


Captured

by tinnie



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-13
Updated: 2014-08-16
Packaged: 2017-12-14 20:54:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 60,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/841281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinnie/pseuds/tinnie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU - Cristina Yang is a young, talented and ambitious photographer who seems to have everything going for her. But there's something missing, that special someone to share it with. At her first photography exhibition a handsome artist captures her attention, but is he the one she's been looking for…?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Mer, wait!" Cristina shouted as she hurried down the hall of the Seattle Metropolitan magazine after Meredith.

"Oh, Cristina, hi," Meredith greeted her with a smile, looking up from the papers she was holding in her hand. "What are you doing here? I thought it's your day off today."

"It is, but I had to grab something I left here yesterday." She handed Meredith the black paper she had been carrying with her. "And I also had to invite my person to my big exhibition this Saturday, right?" She said as a big genuine smile appeared on her face.

In bold, golden letters, the card read: Cristina Yang invites you to her first photography exhibition this Saturday at Seattle's Art Gallery.Meredith read the text from the invitation card and smiled when she saw how excited her friend was. Cristina had been working as a photographer in a popular magazine for almost three years, but this was her first big exhibition. She had been preparing for it for a very long time and the closer it got, the more nervous she became. "This looks amazing. I'm pretty sure it will be a big success," Meredith said with a huge smile. If they both weren't the totally anti-hugging types, they probably would've hugged. But since they were, they only smiled at each other.

"I hope so. I'm getting more and more nervous every minute," Cristina admitted, biting her lower lip while shifting from one foot to another. She never used to be the type of woman who would get anxious easily, but this was the first time she could show her photos to so many people, including other famous photographers. Well, if they decided to come.

"You don't have to worry about anything. People love your photos." Meredith tried to calm down her best friend, slightly stroking her arm, but it apparently wasn't working.

"I know. I know. I'm just so uneasy. Anything can go wrong. I only invited you and Derek, Mark and Lexie and Alex and Izzie. What if nobody else comes? I mean… I invited some other photographers, but it doesn't mean they'll come. And what if it ends up being a total fiasco? It'll be so embarrassing." Cristina's breath was getting more and more erratic as she thought about everything that could go wrong. Shehad put a lot of effort into it, but now, just a few days before it was supposed to happen, she was becoming insecure about the whole thing.

"Of course others will come. You're an amazing photographer. People love you. Just stop freaking out," Meredith said as she grabbed her best friend's shoulders, shaking her a little. "There will be a lot of famous photographers and you have to be confident. You don't wanna embarrass yourself, right?" Meredith asked, knowing that mocking her friend a little could only help.

"Okay, okay. It's gonna be fine," Cristina tried to calm herself, taking a few deep breaths.

"What about Owen? Aren't you going to invite him?" Meredith asked suddenly, when she remembered their colleague and editor in chief of Seattle Metropolitan.

"I... I don't know. Probably no." Cristina shook her head a little hesitantly. She already considered inviting him a few times, but still wasn't really sure about it. Things between them were a little strange and she didn't want them to feel awkward if she invited him.

"Why? I thought your first date went quite well," Meredith said, not understanding why Cristina decided not to invite their colleague to her exhibition.

"It wasn't bad. We just... didn't click. He is a really nice guy, but the sparkle wasn't there. And I think it would be awkward if I invited him." She shrugged dismissively. "I don't wanna give him false hope when I know there probably won't be a second date."

"So you're looking for a 'sparkle guy'?" Meredith laughed a little. She never thought Cristina would be a looking for a 'sparkle kind of guy', but she always managed to surprise her. Meredith also knew how picky Cristina was when it came to men. Many men were interested in her, but few actually got a chance to go on date with her. And even less got a second date. But Meredith couldn't blame her friend. Cristina knew what she wanted and she wouldn't be satisfied until she found it. And this sentiment didn't only apply to men.

"I just want someone who makes me laugh, who isn't afraid to make inappropriate jokes on our first date and who won't be able to take his eyes off me. Do I want too much?" Cristina asked and let out a deep sigh. She didn't want to give up on her demands, but the closer she got to her thirties, the more afraid she was. What if she was never going tofind the right guy? What if she was too picky? Those were the questions that kept her mind occupied more often than they should.

"Maybe not. If I found my guy, so can you. One day you'll meet him," she tried to reassure her as she thought of her husband Derek. It took her a long time to find someone like him, but it was definitely worth the wait.

"But what if I already met him but rejected him? What if I was too picky and threw away my last chance to be happy?"

"Are you talking about Owen?"

"Maybe. I don't know." Cristina shrugged, looking rather glum. She always told herself that she didn't need a guy to be happy, but the fact was it would be nice to have someone by her side."Maybe I just didn't give him a chance. He might be a really nice guy. He's just... not perfect. But who is?"

"I thought you didn't want to ease up from your demands." Meredith grinned.

"I don't. But maybe I have to," she sighed and pulled out another invitation card she had with her. "And if the exhibition ends in a fiasco, he'll run away on his own."

They both started to laugh when Meredith noticed the time on the big clock that hung at the end of the hall. "Oh, no. I gotta go," she said, rather irked about having to end the conversation. "I still have to finish my article about dangerous toys." Meredith rolled her eyes as she remembered the boring work she had yet to do. "See you later. And don't scare him," she laughed and then walked away.

This might be your last chance, Cristina. Don't screw it up, Cristina thought to herself, ready to find Owen.


	2. Chapter 2

A few days passed and Cristina was already getting ready for her exhibition. She has always been a perfectionist and of course, this time was no exception. Every little detail had to be perfect. Even though the exhibition was about her photos, she had to take care of drinks, music and many other things to make her guests comfortable. She was still really nervous, thinking nobody important would come, but after Meredith reassured her for the millionth time, telling her it would be a big success, Cristina calmed down a little.

Another person who was feeling really nervous about the exhibition was Jackson Avery. The first time he saw Cristina's photos was about six months ago. He was waiting outside the dentist's office, reading through all the magazines he found there, when he suddenly spotted an article with some beautiful photos next to it. The title said something about animals in Africa, but that wasn't important for him. However, the images of gazelles in the sunset caught his attention immediately. He also looked through other photos, admiring how simple, yet interesting they looked. Jackson was an artist too, so he really knew how to appreciate good work. And this work was excellent. He checked the name of the photographer on the bottom of the page, taking a mental note to find more photos belonging to this artist that he didn't know of this, for him unknown artist. He definitely wanted to see more. Jackson really quickly became a fan of Cristina's work and was always pleasantly surprised when he found out something more about her.

One Monday morning, he was reading daily newspaper when he noticed a short article, saying: Cristina Yang invites you to her first photography exhibition this Saturday at Seattle's Art Gallery. He immediately recognized the name and knew, that there was no way he would miss that exhibition. Luckily for him it was going to happen in the same city where he lived, Seattle. Before he closed the newspaper, ready to go look for a suit he could wear for that occasion he noticed small black and white photo of Cristina underneath that article. She looked beautiful. Dark curly hair was framing her pretty face and made Jackson's heart skip a beat. He thought he was crazy, because even though he never met her he felt something for her. Whether it was platonic or not.

And now, there he was. In the middle of the room, where Cristina's exhibition was taking place. He was amazed by all the beautiful and interesting photos around him, but most excited about the possibility of meeting Cristina in person. He had been her work for a few months now and talking to her would be an excellent experience. Just a few steps away from him he saw a couple who was obviously in a good mood and decided to ask them, if they knew anything about Cristina coming to the exhibition.

"Oh, hey," he started a little hesitantly, as he walked towards them. "Do you know if Cristina Yang, the photographer is coming here tonight?"

"I'm pretty sure she's already here somewhere," the young woman answered with a small smile. "Are you a fan of hers?"

"Yeah, I guess you can say that." Jackson nodded and smiled. "I'm Jackson Avery by the way," he introduced himself and extended his hand to shake.

"I'm Meredith Grey and this is my husband Derek," she said, pointing to Derek and then they both shook Jackson's hand.

"Do you know her? I mean, Cristina," Jackson asked curiously.

"Yeah, she's my best friend, godmother to our daughter and many other things." She laughed, knowing that explain the relationship between her and Cristina to someone who didn't know them was almost impossible.

"Obviously I picked the right person to talk to," Jackson laughed a little before continuing. "I've been a big fan of her for the past few months and I'm glad she decided to do an exhibition of her photos."

"She's been working very hard on this," Meredith nodded. "And I guess you'll meet her in person soon," she said and looked behind Jackson. He turned around and saw Cristina walking towards them. She looked even prettier than on the photo he saw in the newspaper. She was wearing a short black dress, leather jacket and she was petite, the high heels made her legs look unbelievably long and sexy. Her dark curls were bouncing around her smiley face as she walked and all Jackson could do was stare at her in amazement.

"So you came!" Cristina exclaimed happily, when she saw her best friend and her husband. "When you called me and told me you couldn't get a babysitter, I was worried you were not gonna make it. It's enough that Lexie couldn't come because of the family reunion."

"There was no way we wouldn't make it," Meredith said. "This is your big exhibition and I'm so proud of you. We all are." Meredith gave her a slight hug and Cristina blushed a little. She wasn't used to having so much attention. When she started with photography, it was just a hobby. She never thought it might be her profession one day. But then she met Meredith and from an underrated accountant she became a photographer for one of Washington's most popular magazines. And now she was having her own big exhibition. "Oh, I almost forgot. This is Jackson Avery," Meredith smiled and pointed to Jackson, who was standing a few feet away from them, nervously shifting from one leg to another. "He is your big fan and definitely a hottie," she added quietly and slightly pushed Cristina towards him.

"Hi, I'm Jackson Avery," he introduced himself with a big smile, trying to hide the fact, that he was quite nervous. He has been admiring Cristina since the first time he saw her photos in that magazine and meeting her in person was something he really wanted.

"I'm Cristina Yang. But since you're here, I guess you already know that," she said with a slight giggle. Meredith was right. This guy was definitely a type that could be marked as 'hottie'. He had light green-blue eyes, which could easily hypnotize any woman in that room among with a big shiny smile. And even though he was wearing a suit, Cristina could notice his masculine body under it.

"Cristina, maybe you should walk Jackson around and show him those beautiful photos you have over there," Meredith said and winked at her best friend.

"I'd love that." Jackson gave Cristina another big smile and she couldn't resist that.

"So..." Cristina tried to start a conversation, while they walked towards the wall, where most of her favorite photos were exposed. "How did you find out about my photos?"

Jackson laughed a little, as he remembered the day he saw Cristina's photos for the first time. Back then he would never think that one day he may share that story with her. "You may find it funny, but I actually discovered your work outside a dentist's office. I was reading through some magazines they had there, when I saw an article about animals from Africa. And those photos... They're stunning," he explained with a bright smile and noticed Cristina's face flushing a little, as she laughed about his story.

"You can't be serious. Outside a dentist's office?" she asked with a chuckle. "I hate visiting dentists. But I'm glad this one actually helped me gain one more fan."

"A big fan," Jackson corrected her and took two glasses of champagne from a waiter who was just walking around and handed one of them to Cristina. "Actually, I'm glad I visited the dentist that day. I may have never seen your photos if I didn't. It would be such a shame."

"It was really worth visiting the dentist?" Cristina asked with a giggle, feeling her cheeks getting red. She had been publishing her photos for quite a while, but she still wasn't really used to compliments. Especially not from strangers. However, this stranger seemed to be really nice. And hot. "One article and you became my fan?"

"Yeah, just that." Jackson nodded, not admitting that he spent hours browsing the Internet and looking for more of Cristina's photos. He didn't want to look like a stalker freak, just a minute after they met.

"Well, now I feel honored," she smiled and bit her lower lip, not understanding what was going on with her. There was something about this guy, that made her want to giggle like a teenage girl. "So you apparently know something about me, but except for your name I don't know anything about you," she said, trying to change the topic while they walked around the room, looking at all the photos Cristina exposed there. "Do you live here? In Seattle?" she asked curiously and sipped from her champagne.

"Yeah, I have a studio here." He nodded, also taking a sip from his glass. He couldn't really tell, if Cristina was just being polite or really wanted to know more about him. Either way, he liked this small conversation.

"A studio?" Cristina's eyes widened. Now she was really becoming curious about this guy.

"I'm a painter," he explained.

"You're a painter? So you're an artist too." She nodded appreciatively. She didn't know much about painting, but she knew that being appreciated by an artist was even better than being appreciated by a 'normal' person. "Do you happen to have an exhibition somewhere too or are you doing it just for fun?"

"I'm not that big of a painter yet, so I don't show it anywhere, but I have quite a collection at home. But who knows, maybe one day I'll have an exhibition like you too." Jackson shrugged and gave Cristina one of his best smiles. He has been admiring her and her work for a quite some time and now, when he finally met her he couldn't take his eyes off her. And if a wide smile was supposed to let him get to know her better he wasn't afraid to use it.

"I'd love to see that collection," Cristina blurted out without thinking and suddenly felt really embarrassed for saying it. Did I just ask him to invite me to his house? "I'm sorry. That was inappropriate," she quickly apologized, not being able to look at him again. She didn't understand where these words were coming from, but she really wanted to make sure, that this wasn't the last time she ever saw Jackson. She knew him just for a few minutes, but his smile was like some sort of magic, that took complete control over her.

Jackson was a little surprised by Cristina's reaction and he could see she felt more than a little embarrassed for what she said, but it brought a small smile to his face. He wanted to invite her by himself, but since they had known each other just for a few minutes, it seemed too presumptuous to him. And he really didn't want to look like a freak. "No, it's okay. If you really are interested, I'd like to show it to you. Beside other things, it's always good to know what other artists think about my work."

"You- you would?" Cristina asked surprised. The color of her face still reminded of a tomato, but at least she was able to look Jackson in the eye again.

"Of course," he nodded and pulled a business card out of his pocket, handing it to Cristina. "That's my phone number and address. Just call me when you want to come and I'll be happy to meet you again." He smiled at her, happy that she gave him a reason to give her his number without being too pushy.

Cristina thanked him and quickly looked around, while her eyes searched for the nearest table where her business cards were. She took one and handed it to Jackson. Small shy smiles appeared on their faces, as their fingers lightly touched for a brief second, before pulling away. "If you ever need a photo or anything, just call me," Cristina said and hoped it wouldn't be the only reason for him to call her.

"I will. Don't worry about that." Jackson nodded his head, knowing that he would definitely call her. From the little while they talked, he assumed she was quite nice and intelligent. Exactly how he imagined her. And he wanted to get to know her better.

There was a moment of awkward silence between them, when Cristina spotted another familiar face she invited, entering her exhibition. "I really liked talking to you, but I guess you understand I should talk to my other guests too," she said, not too excited about the fact, that she had to interrupt their small conversation.

"Yes, of course. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of people who are dying to talk to you," Jackson laughed a little, because he knew, that he was one of them. But he also knew it would be unfair to keep Cristina away from those people.

"I hope so." She gave him a big genuine smile, letting him know, that she wanted to see him again as well. They said their goodbyes before heading off in their separate directions, hoping it wasn't the last time they spoke that evening.

"Hey, Owen. I'm glad you came." Cristina said politely, as she walked towards her colleague. A couple of days ago, when she decided to invite him to her exhibition, she wanted to give him a second chance and ask him, if he was interested in going on another date with her. But now… After the little while she spent with Jackson, she wasn't so sure about it. She has known Owen for almost two years, but during those two years, he has never impressed her as much as Jackson did in those few minutes.

"Hey," he greeted her with a huge smile on his face and leaned over to kiss her, but she turned her head to the side, so his lips just slightly touched her cheek. He was a little disappointed by her move, but assumed that she just wasn't comfortable with kissing him in front of so many people. After all, they have HAD gone ONE to just one date so far. Not knowing that it was also their last date he hoped for more and wrapped his arm around Cristina's waist, lightly pulling her closer to him.

Cristina squirmed a little, as she felt Owen's hand slightly squeezing her hip. She wasn't expecting that and felt a little uncomfortable. "Look, Owen," she started, trying to tell him that there was nothing more between them than a working relationship or possible friendship. She was feeling bad about giving him false hope when obviously there wasn't any.

"I know. This is your first big exhibition and you feel a little nervous about it, but it's okay. You don't have to kiss me in public if you don't feel up to it. We can take it slowly," he said, smiling at her, having no idea what was going on in her head.

"That's not what I was trying to say," she interrupted him. "I know this is not the best place or time to tell you this, but I have to." Cristina took a deep breath before speaking again. "I like you. But… Obviously not the same way you like me. I'd like us to stay friends, but that's all I can offer." She sighed, feeling a little guilty as she saw Owen's disappointed face.

"Oh," was all Owen managed to say and quickly removed his hand from Cristina's hip. He was so sure that she wanted to start a relationship with him. Apparently, he was wrong and now he felt really embarrassed about the whole situation. "I'm sorry. I guess I probably misunderstood your signals or something."

Cristina wanted to tell him, that there was nothing wrong about him and that it wasn't his fault when he thought she wanted to start a relationship. Because just a few minutes ago, she did. And then she met a stranger who made her rethink, if choosing the 'easier way' was the best decision. However, she rather didn't say anything. After the moment of awkward silence between the two of them, Owen decided it was time to say something. "Well, I guess I should go. I don't want to ruin your evening."

"You're not..." she tried to stop him, but the words got stuck in her throat. "I'm glad you came. Really. It means a lot to me. And I hope this misunderstanding won't change things between us. Because you're a great colleague," Cristina said, giving Owen a small smile.

"Don't worry about that." He lightly shook his head, before saying goodbye and leaving the exhibition.

Cristina watched him leave, still feeling a little bad for turning him down, but quickly forgot about it, when her other guests approached her, keeping her busy for the rest of the evening.

"Who could say, that this exhibition would be such a success?"Cristina asked with a huge smile on her face. It was shortly after midnight and she was sitting in Meredith's car on her way home. After Owen left, she talked to many different people who came to her exhibition and admired her work. She also got a few very tempting job offers, but refused. Even though she often complained about the work in the magazine, she liked it there. It gave her enough space and freedom to express her own ideas. And she also had all her friends around her.

"I said that. But you didn't listen," Meredith said in a dry tone. Her eyes were half closed, as she tried to not fall asleep before they came home. After becoming a mother of now almost one year old Adrienne, she wasn't used to staying up so late.

"That was rhetorical question." Cristina rolled her eyes, but then started to laugh. "Everything I do is a success," she announced proudly.

Derek chuckled, listening to his wife and her friend's conversation, while his eyes were still fixed to the road in front of him.

"Anything funny?" Cristina asked, turning to Derek who seemed quite amused.

"No, nothing." He shook his head. "I just remembered the past weeks that you spent complaining about how big of a fiasco your exhibition will be."

"I was overacting. You can't take me seriously." She laughed, as Derek stopped the car in front of the building where she lived. "Okay. I'm home. Thank you both for coming," Cristina smiled at them and hopped out of the car. "See you on Monday."

Meredith and Derek said their goodbyes to her, before starting the car again and heading home. It had been a long night for all of them. But not even exhaustion stopped Cristina from thinking the only thought she had had on her mind all evening. Jackson Avery.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey," Meredith said, as she walked in to the kitchenette and spotted Cristina, who was just having her morning cup of coffee. Every morning they met there and talked a little before work started, but this time Cristina looked a little distracted and thoughtful. However, Meredith decided to ignore it. She had something slightly more important to ask her. "Listen, I know it's a short notice, but could you come over tonight and look after Adrienne? Derek wants to take me to a restaurant and our babysitter can't come, so I was wondering if you have time." Meredith looked at her pleadingly, hoping she would agree.

"I'm sorry, Mer. You know I love spending time with my goddaughter, but I already have this thing planned for tonight." Cristina looked at her apologetically. She didn't like saying no to her, especially when Meredith looked like she was relying on her, but she already had her plans for the evening and wouldn't like to change them.

"What kind of thing?" Meredith asked curiously. She had no idea what Cristina was up to, but assumed that it was the reason, why she looked so thoughtful.

"Do you remember Jackson? That hot guy I met at my exhibition?" she asked, not waiting for Meredith's answer and continued. "Well, yesterday we talked over the phone and he invited me to his apartment. He wants to show me the collection of his paintings we were talking about earlier."

"First date and he already invited you to his apartment? This guy is taking it a little quickly, don't you think?" Meredith asked, worried about her best friend. She knew her respond might have sounded a little harsh, but Cristina's plans surprised her. Just a week ago, she was talking about giving Owen another chance and suddenly she was going on a date with a complete stranger. However, considering how hot Jackson looked, she couldn't really blame her.

"It's not a date!" Cristina corrected her and shook her head. "I asked him to show me his paintings and that's what he is going to do. Nothing more, nothing less."

"So what is it? A sleepover?" She asked with a chuckle. From the way Cristina responded, she could see she was nervous about it. Date or not, she seemed to like that guy. "Because he may want to show you much more than just his paintings."

"Wh... What?"

"I just... In case you want to spend a night there, you might want to bring a tooth brush. And condoms," she said quietly and started to laugh, when she saw Cristina's confused facial expression. She couldn't tell if Meredith was joking or not.

"I'm not gonna... I... Um... Meredith!" Cristina yelled, flinging her arms everywhere. She was already nervous enough and didn't need Meredith to make it worse.

"Calm down. I was just kidding," Meredith was still laughing, as she watched her friend, nervously shifting from one foot to another. "You must really like this guy. I've never seen you being so nervous about a date."

"So maybe I like him," she finally admitted, looking at her shoes. Cristina had never been good talking about feelings, but the redness in her face said it all. "He seems to be nice. But… I don't know if he likes me that way. I don't even know if he likes me at all. I basically made him to invite me. So maybe he was just being polite."

"So you think he invited you to his apartment because he doesn't like you?" Meredith asked, still mocking her friend a little. Seeing Cristina so nervous was something unusual and she was enjoying it. Most of the time Cristina was very confident about her actions and decisions.

"Why are you so mean to me today?" Cristina asked, crossing her arms on her chest, pretending to be mad at her. She expected some kind of support from her person, but instead of that, she was making fun of her nervousness.

"I'm not mean. But you don't know him very well and I just want to protect you."

"Well you don't have to. If you want, I'll give you his address, just in case. But I'm telling you, it's just a friendly visit," Cristina said, rolling her eyes and not accepting the fact that Jackson might be attracted to her as well.

"You really think you will drink tea and chat about weather? He's into you. I'm more than sure about that."

"Who is into whom?" Izzie's voice suddenly interrupted their conversation, as she entered the kitchen. When she first came to the magazine, looking for a job, she was just one of many models. But as they soon found out, she was also an amazing writer with a head full of useful advice which helped her to become a full time employee. And since she was also really chatty and sociable, it didn't take her too long to become Meredith and Cristina's friend.

"Cristina has a date with one hot painter that she met at her exhibition," Meredith said, clarifying the situation. "And she doesn't want to admit that he's into her."

"Meredith!" Cristina exclaimed, trying to shut her up. She didn't like it when her personal life was discussed with other people. Even though Izzie was a good friend, she couldn't keep her mouth shut for very long. And Cristina didn't want everybody to know about her date. Especially when she didn't know, if it was gonna work or not. "And it's not a date."

"He invited her to his apartment, to show her some of his paintings," Meredith explained, seeing Izzie's eyes widen. "Oh, so it's a sleepover." Izzie nodded her head, took yoghurt out of the fridge and sat beside Meredith. "Is he hot? 'Cos I heard that many painters are weirdoes." She scrunched up her face.

Cristina rolled her eyes at Izzie's comment, ignoring the part about the sleepover. "He is hot. Very hot to be exact," she admitted, biting her lip, as she remembered the hypnotizing eyes and shiny smile. This guy made her feel like a teenager that was going on a first date. "But that's not the point." She took a deep breath before continuing, still avoiding Izzie and Meredith's curious eyes. "The point is, that we're just going to talk about art, maybe drink a little, but that's all," she said, trying to look confident about it, even though she knew there could be much more going on.

"People usually call it a date."Izzie grinned, sticking her tongue out a little.

"Yeah," Meredith agreed and nodded her head.

"You know what? You act like a bunch of teenage girls. If you wanna act like this then I'm not gonna tell you anything," Cristina said, pretending to be mad at them and with a cup of coffee in her hand left to her office.

"She likes him," Meredith and Izzie both said at the same time, when Cristina left the kitchen and started to laugh.

Jackson was really nervous about Cristina coming to his place. There hadn't been many women in his apartment so far. Especially not on a first date. If this could be even considered as a first date. But Cristina was different. She didn't seem to be scared of being alone with him. She was obviously very confident. And also she was the one, who asked him to show her his collection of paintings. Cristina made him nervous. More than any woman ever did. Suddenly the doorbell rang and Jackson quickly checked himself in the mirror, before rushing to open the door.

"Hey," Cristina said with a smile, when he opened the door. She looked totally stunning and all Jackson could do, was stand there without a word and stare at her. She was wearing white ruffle top and black skinny jeans. Without the high heels she looked so tiny, but still really hot.

"Hey. I was worried you were not gonna come," Jackson said, when he finally woke up from the shock of how beautiful she looked. "Come in."

"I wasn't sure if I'm gonna come. First I thought you might be one of those freaky pervs, who want to show women their "collection", then rape them and hide them in their basement for the rest of their lives. But considering that I learned something in Thai box classes and that I have tear-gas in my bag, I decided to come anyway," she said with laugh, as she walked into Jackson's apartment. "And I also googled your name, what proved that you really are who you said you are," she added after a while, running her hand through her hair nervously. "Am I talking too much?" she asked when she realized that she was acting nothing like herself. But with Jackson light blue eyes fixed on her it was difficult to act normal.

"No. Not at all," Jackson laughed as he led her to the couch in the middle of his living room. The fact that she looked nervous calmed him a little. At least he wasn't alone in it. "Make yourself comfortable, I'll just grab some wine from the fridge."

"From what I can see, you have a really nice apartment," Cristina said, looking around and sat on the couch, putting her bag next to her. "Much bigger compared to mine."

"That's just an illusion, because I have high ceiling and I put my bedroom to the air," Jackson winked at her and walked to his kitchen that was connected with his living room. "And I also use this apartment as a studio where I paint."

"That's cool. Working from home. There are days when I hate getting up from bed and going to the magazine where I work."

"So you work in FOR a magazine?" Jackson asked curiously, whilst he searched for a bottle of red wine in his fridge. "I thought you only do photography." He added, when he finally found what he was looking for and walked back to the living room. He put two glasses on the small coffee table and poured them with wine, before sitting beside Cristina.

"I do. I take photos for the magazine. Fashion, photos of food or anything else that needs to be captured. This job pays my bills. The photos on IN my exhibition those I do for fun."

"I can totally understand that." He nodded. "Few years ago, I used to illustrate books a lot. It helped me move from the tiny apartment I had to this one. Now I mostly do big paintings for customers, but still illustrate some books here and there. It gives me some certainty in my life," Jackson explained and handed Cristina the glass of red.

At first the conversation between them was a little awkward but after a few minutes they both became comfortable around each other. Cristina told him about the years in college and how she moved to Seattle, thinking she would be an accountant for the rest of her life. Also about how she met Meredith who quickly became her best friend and how she and her husband who was a co-owner of the popular magazine they worked for, helped her slowly become a photographer.

Jackson explained to her his complicated relationship with his parents, who were successful lawyers and wanted him to do the same. However, he was always fascinated by art and after finishing a law school, he decided to get away from his parents' power and become a painter like he always wanted to.

After they both shared their experiences and agreed, that becoming an artist wasn't as easy as it seemed, there was a silent moment between them. Suddenly Jackson remembered the reason, why Cristina came to his apartment in the first place.

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed, when he realized that. "I promised that I'll show you my collection and I almost forgot about it." He quickly stood up from the couch and turned on the lights on the opposite side of his living room. "Follow me," he said and Cristina did as he told her to. They walked to the corner of the room, where Jackson moved away two screens, revealing a small studio, where he worked on his paintings.

"Wow," Cristina let out the word of surprise, as she looked around with a small smile on her face. There were some canvases, brushes, colors and bunch of other stuff she couldn't identify.

"I know it's not big, but it gives me enough space to work on my paintings. And it's quite close to the kitchen." He laughed and walked further to his workplace. He grabbed an old blanket, which was covering his paintings and put it away. A little bit of dust filled the small space and Cristina started to cough. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I don't put it away very often," he quickly apologized, giving Cristina a concerned look.

"It's okay," she managed to say, when she finally took a deep breath.

"You sure?" Jackson asked her and after she gave him a reassuring nod, he started to show her his paintings and her face immediately lightened up.

"Oh my God" Those are wonderful," she said with a huge smile on her lips, as she studied every inch of every painting. There were unbelievably realistic portraits along with classical still-lifes and some abstract experiments. "These tulips look so real. Like you can actually touch them or smell them," she giggled and looked at Jackson, who was watching her in delight.

He always hoped he could find a woman who would admire his work. Who would understand how important art was for him. And the look in Cristina's eyes when she was looking at his painting told him that she could be a woman like that. At first he was worried she wouldn't like his work, but she seemed to be amazed. "Do you want to touch it?" he prompted her.

"You can't touch paintings. Don't you know that?" she asked with laugh.

"Of course you can. You just need the privilege." Jackson winked at her and took her small hand into his. He gently traced along the edge of each tulip with her fingers, a wide smile not leaving his face. "Do you like it?" he asked, seeing her pretty smile growing bigger.

"Yeah." She nodded and looked back at him. "It's amazing," she admitted, still a little surprised how easily it impressed her. She may have been picky when it came to dating, but any sort of art amazed her really quickly.

They were both standing there in complete silence with silly smiles on their faces, completely lost in their thoughts, when Jackson took a deep breath, ready to say something. "Will it be too presumptuous if I try to kiss you?" he asked suddenly. He knew that asking that was very presumptuous, but just watching how her full pink lips moved as she spoke, wasn't enough for him. He wanted to taste them. To feel them on his own.

"Yeah." She laughed a little and he took it as a bad sign. "But I like presumptuous," she added after a while, smiling at him and moving a little closer. Cristina wanted to kiss him at least as much, as he wanted to kiss her. But none of them admitted it.

Jackson's hand slowly moved to the side of her head, lightly stroking her cheek, before he leaned over her and his lips softly captured hers. They were full and soft. Perfect for kissing. And Jackson didn't want to let them go. It was very gentle and romantic kiss, even though it lasted just for a few seconds.

"That felt..." Jackson started hesitantly, when he pulled away a little, not being sure if Cristina liked it as much, as he did.

"Good," she finished and a shy smile appeared on her lips. Actually very good. She thought to herself, not saying anything just keep smiling.

"Do you want more wine?" Jackson suggested, after another moment of silent staring at each other. If it was up to him, he would never stop kissing her, but for now, he didn't want to push it too much.

"Yeah, I'd love to," she nodded and they both moved back to the couch.

Jackson poured them two glasses of red, giving her one of his best smiles. God, she's so beautiful. He thought as he sipped from his glass, discretely watching her curls move around her face. He wanted to touch them so so bad.

They were both longing for the sweet taste of each other's lips. After a few long seconds of silence, they both decided to lean over. Unfortunately they both moved their head to the same side and their noses bumped painfully. They quickly pulled away from each other, slightly rubbing the places, where their faces bumped together.

"Ouch," Cristina yelped in pain, still holding her hand over her face. "This kind of ruined the moment," she said with chuckle.

"I'm so sorry. Are you ok?" Jackson asked concerned and gently removed Cristina's hand from her nose. "I'm not a doctor, but it seems to be all right," he said with a small smile, while his fingers lightly stroked her cheek, before leaning over again and softly kissing her.

Cristina quickly forgot about the pain, as she caught his lips into hers, eagerly responding to his kiss. This one was more passionate than the first one. His hand quickly find the way to her hair, feeling the soft curls under his fingertips, while she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. She was surrounded by his scent along with the warmth that his body provided and all she could think about was the sweet, yet refreshing taste of his lips on hers. They reminded her of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Her favorite. "We barely know each other," Jackson said breathlessly, when he pulled away after a while, gasping for air.

"Is that a problem for you?" Cristina asked, hoping it wasn't. She wasn't a type of woman that would make out with strangers, but there was something about Jackson, that made her do crazy things. And she liked that feeling.

"No, not at all." He shook his head and his lips crushed on hers again. He wrapped his arms around her slim waist, pulling her closer and closing the distance between them. His tongue slightly ran across her bottom lip, begging for an entrance and she didn't resist. As their tongues battled inside of Cristina's mouth, Jackson gently pinned her to the couch. His hands slowly started to run up and down her sides, intensifying the feeling of their already passionate kisses. A slight moan escaped Cristina's throat, when she felt Jackson's lips moving to her neck, nuzzling it a little, while his hot breath tickled her skin.

"Oh, God," she whispered, before their lips met again in another hot mouth opened kiss.

They both forgot how fast the time was running, when suddenly Cristina heard her phone ringing in her bag. "I think I should pick that up," she murmured against Jackson's lips, trying to reach her bag with one hand, while the other one was still wrapped around his neck.

"Can't it wait?" he asked, because he didn't want to separate his lips from hers for more than a second. "Whoever it is, will call later."

"I guess it's my best friend, Meredith. She knows I'm here and if I don't pick up, she'll call the cops," Cristina said with a serious face, knowing that Meredith would be capable of it.

"In that case, you better take that call," disappointment was obvious in Jackson's voice and before he straightened up he gave Cristina one more kiss. "In case you want some privacy..." Jackson said and pointed to the door that led to his bathroom.

"Thanks," Cristina smiled and picked up the phone. "Hey, Mer. What's up?" she tried to sound casually, as she closed the door of the bathroom behind her.

"Why did it take you so long to pick up? I was about to call the police," Meredith basically yelled and Cristina could hear that she was worried.

"Chillax, Meredith. I'm fine." Cristina laughed, when she heard Meredith's scared voice. In fact, she was more than fine. "I was just... ummm... busy," she said, biting her lip in order not to laugh. Cristina knew that this kind of answer would freak Meredith out even more. But after the way she acted this morning, she kind of deserved it.

"What?" Meredith shouted out. "Did you sleep with him?"

"No. We were just... making out a little. No big deal," she said with the same tone, like as if she was saying that she was having a cup of coffee with him.

Cristina could hear Meredith letting out a breath, as she found out that her friend was okay. "I thought you said it's not a date," she mocked her a little.

"It's not." Cristina grinned, even though Meredith couldn't see her.

"Okay. Whatever. But date or not, you can't sleep with him. He'll think you're a slut." Meredith warned her with a serious tone in her voice.

"Don't worry. I know how to behave." Cristina rolled her eyes. She always tried to convince Meredith that she didn't need relationship advice, but wasn't very successful. Especially when most of the guys she went out with didn't make it to second date. "I have to end. I don't want Jackson to think that I'm telling you every single detail."

"But you will," Meredith said, hoping to hear everything about Cristina's evening in the young artist's apartment.

"We'll see." Cristina laughed and hung up. She took a quick look in the mirror, fixing her messy hair a little, before coming back to the living room.

"So? Did you explain your friend that I'm not a serial killer?" Jackson asked with a grin, as Cristina sat on the couch next to him.

"Yeah. I think she finally believes it," she chuckled, before putting a small kiss on Jackson's lips. She wished she could stay with him all night, even if they spent it just talking about art, but felt like it was time to call it night and go home. "It was a lovely evening, but I think it's time to go for me. I have to get up early and go to work," she sighed. Even though she loved photography more than anything, the early get-up was awful.

"Right. Having normal work sucks." He nodded sympathetically, leading Cristina to the front door. He wished she could stay, but knew it was too early to ask her something like that. He didn't want to ruin the perfect evening they had. "So... Can I see you again? Sometime?" he asked hopefully because he couldn't imagine the possibility of never seeing her again.

"Definitely," she replied with a smile, hoping that 'sometime' will be soon enough.

As their eyes met again, Jackson leaned over and kissed her one more time before leaving. "Good bye, Cristina," he said when their lips separated.

"Good bye." With those words she left his apartment. It had been just a few seconds, but she already couldn't wait to see him again. Cristina began to feel something she hasn't felt in a very long time. She was falling in love. And there was no way to get out of it.


	4. Chapter 4

"So? How was it? I wanna hear details." Meredith started to bombard her friend with questions the moment she entered the building of Seattle's Metropolitan Magazine.

"Mer, can I at least get my morning cup of coffee before you start to ask me so many questions? I've not totally woken up yet."

"Sorry." Meredith looked at her apologetically. "But what did you expect when you told me you made out with him and then hung up on me a couple of seconds later? I need to hear everything." She stressed the last word, letting Cristina know that she was impatiently waiting for all the juicy details about her date.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you." Cristina raised her hands, telling Meredith that she was giving up and was willing to tell her everything. "Just give me a minute to wake up. Okay?" They walked to the kitchenette, both grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting on chairs opposite each other. "So what do you wanna know?" Cristina sighed after a few minutes when she couldn't bear Meredith's curious staring any longer.

"What happened? Did you get into his apartment and he immediately pushed you against the door, kissing until you were both breathless and sweaty? Or was he a gentleman and offered you something to drink before you started making out?" she finally let out all the questions that have been bothering her since the previous evening.

Cristina burst into laugh as she listened to Meredith's theory. "Mer, I guess you watch TV too much. It was nothing like that," she started to explain and a big happy smile appeared on her lips, as she remembered the previous evening. "I came to his apartment and yes, he did offer me a drink, but we just talked. He told me something about his past, I told him something about mine and then he began to show me his paintings." Her eyes lit up when she mentioned his paintings. "You really should see his work. It's... amazing. Those portraits and even the abstract paintings. You know I'm not the biggest fan of..."

"Okay, I believe you. He's a great painter. Awesome. But when did you start making out?" Meredith interrupted her impatiently. Since Cristina couldn't babysit for her the previous night, Meredith and Derek got stuck at home, watching some old boring movies and falling asleep really early. So now Meredith wanted to know that at least Cristina had an interesting evening and that it was worth the trade.

"Don't be so impatient. I'm getting to it." Cristina rolled her eyes, but laughed and then continued. "So he showed me his paintings and then we were just staring at each other when suddenly he asked me if he could kiss me. And honestly, I couldn't resist. So that's it." She shrugged and sipped from her coffee, waiting for Meredith to ask her another question.

"That's it? Where are the details?" Meredith asked, throwing her arms in the air impatiently. She felt like a teenager who waited for her friend to share every little detail about her date. "Was it good or is he that kind of guy whose saliva you get all over your face? Because that's gross." She scrunched her nose up in disgust and Cristina laughed.

"No, nothing like that." She shook her head. "It was almost perfect. I mean... We bumped our noses at first, but then it was awesome." She sighed with a stupid grin on her face. Cristina wasn't used to talking about her dates like this. Especially because most of the time they ended up in a fisaco. But since the time she left Jackson's apartment she felt surprisingly happy. And she had no problem sharing all the details with Meredith. "At least until my phone started to ring and ruined the atmosphere," she added sarcastically, glaring at Meredith.

"Sorry," Meredith whispered, feeling a little guilty. "But I was worried about you. He could've kidnapped you, raped you or killed you."

"Yeah, but he didn't." Cristina shrugged her shoulders, not knowing why Meredith was suddenly so overprotective.

"Well, luckily for you."

"Mer, I know you want to protect me, but I don't need that anymore. Jackson is a good guy. He won't hurt me."

"You thought that about Burke too," Meredith said with a concerned face as she remembered Cristina's previous boyfriend. Even though she never met him, she knew their relationship ended up in a fiasco and made Cristina not trust people so easily. That was also the reason why she was so surprised about how quickly Cristina started to trust Jackson.

"I was stupid. Now I can tell if someone tries to screw me over. And Jackson doesn't seem to be that kind of guy," she announced with confidence in her voice. But in fact, she wasn't confident about it at all. She really wanted to believe that Jackson was a good guy. That he wouldn't hurt her. But at the same time she felt enormous fear of another man breaking her heart. Because she didn't know if she could take it again.

"I hope you're right." Meredith tried to smile, even though she saw a little bit of insecurity in Cristina's eyes. "And if he hurts you, I'll kick his ass."

"I bet you will."

"I haven't seen you all week. So, how was the family reunion with Lexie this weekend?" Jackson asked casually, during one of his regular workouts with his best friend, Mark. He and Mark used to meet twice a week in a gym, gossiping a little, while working on their already flawless bodies. Mark's girlfriend Lexie always laughed, it was just a man's version of sitting in a hair salon. None of them dared to contradict, because they knew she was right.

"It was... Good. Surprisingly good," Mark admitted with a slight smile, while lifting some weights. "Lexie was really nervous at first, because I only met her sisters and father before, but the rest of her family seemed to accept me quite well."

"You used the Sloan charm, huh?" Jackson laughed.

"I think I should teach you how to do it. That way you might actually get a date." Mark grinned at his friend, lifting some weights as they talked.

"I know it might surprise you, but I had a date yesterday," he announced proudly. Mark always teased him, because he couldn't get a girlfriend. But the fact was that Jackson was just really picky. With his bright eyes and shiny smile, he could get tons of pretty girls. He wouldn't even have to try that hard. However, beauty wasn't all that Jackson required. Actually, it wasn't even in the first placeon his 'list'. An ideal girlfriend for Jackson had to be smart, funny and confident. But most importantly, he had to see some sort of sparkle between them. And that was definitely something, he saw with Cristina.

"Oh, really?" Mark looked at him surprised. He knew how picky Jackson could be, when it came to choosing a girlfriend. But he completely understood him. A few years back, Mark didn't need much from women to interest him. Sexy body, pretty face or just a need to have some fun with him was all he required. After he met Lexie, his demands on women raised unexpectedly. She was all he ever dreamed about and he knew it would be hard to find someone like that. But since they were incredibly happy together, he didn't have to care about that. "So who is this girl? Does she accomplish all your needs?" He asked with chuckle.

"Actually, yes." Jackson nodded and put the dumbbells he was holding down, before remembering his date with Cristina. "Her name is Cristina Yang and she is... Amazing," he said and a wide smile appeared on his lips. "She's pretty. And funny. But not in a silly kind of way. She seems to be very smart too. And she has the best curly hair I've ever seen." He laughed a little after the last sentence, but it was true.

"Cristina Yang?" Mark asked, thinking why that name felt so familiar to him. He was a lawyer so he knew a lot of people and heard a lot of names, but this was different. "Why does that name feel so familiar?"

"Well, she is a popular photographer here in Seattle. She had her first exhibition this Saturday. That's where I met her," Jackson explained.

"Oh, wait. Cristina Yang? A photographer? Are you talking about a petite Asian girl with a head full of ebony curls?"

"Yeah, that's how I would describe her. Do you know her? Oh, God, I hope you didn't sleep with her." Jackson looked at him horrified, hoping he wasn't right.

"What? No!" Mark exclaimed, shaking his head. "I just realized I know her. She works for the same magazine like Lexie, doesn't she?"

"She mentioned something about working for a magazine, but I don't think she told me which one," Jackson said, trying to remember if Cristina mentioned any name. "Wait!" he shouted out when he remembered something. "Lexie's last name is Grey, right?" he asked and Mark nodded. "Is her sister's name Meredith? Meredith Grey?"

"Yeah, she is..."

"Cristina's best friend," they both said at the same time.

"Wow, world is small, isn't it?" Jackson noted after a while.

"Yeah, it is." Mark laughed. "And I still haven't met Kate Moss."

"Kate Moss? She's not even that pretty."

"Well maybe not for you. She's not Asian." Mark grinned at his friend, mocking him a little. "But beware of this Cristina girl. Lexie said she can be pretty harsh sometimes. Maybe even cruel. And I think she made a few models cry. You don't wanna mess with that girl."

Jackson just rolled his eyes and shook his head. He had to admit he didn't know Cristina that much, but she seemed nothing like Mark just described her. "She's not like that. And I'll prove it to you."

"Okay. Do whatever you want. But don't come crying on my shoulder when she breaks your pretty face." Mark winked at him and got back to lifting weights. "How about baseball? Did you watch it on Sunday?" he asked, changing the topic.

"Yeah, but I kinda regret watching it. I've never seen such an awful game." Jackson laughed as they continued talking about sport, but he still couldn't take his mind off Cristina.

Cristina was sitting in her office, trying to edit the photos she shot the previous week, but she couldn't focus at all. She kept hypnotizing her cell phone with her eyes, hoping Jackson would call her and ask her to go on a date with him. She knew that she was living in the 21st century and that she could easily ask him out herself, but she didn't want to seem so desperate and pushy. After all, it had been less than twenty-four hours since they last saw each other. She shook her head, trying to push the thoughts about Jackson aside and get back to her work when her phone suddenly started to ring, making her jump from her chair. She quickly grabbed it in her hand, smiling when she saw the name on the display. "You can't pick up right away. You'll look desperate," she whispered to herself and took a deep breath before pushing the green button and picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, Cristina. It's me, Jackson." His soft voice slid from the phone, making Cristina shiver a little.

"Hey, Jackson. How are you?" she asked nonchalantly, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Good, actually," he answered. Much better now when I hear your voice again. He thought and smiled to himself. "Listen, I was thinking if you would be interested in going out with me on Saturday. I know this fancy restaurant that I would like to show you. If you want," he added the last sentence just to let her know he wasn't pressuring her into anything. He wanted her to go out with him, because she liked spending time with him and not because she wanted to be polite.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" was all she wanted to say, but assuming she would look too crazy, she decided to keep it to herself. "Saturday you say?" she asked, making a dramatic pause. "Yeah, I think Saturday would do."

Jackson let out a breath of relief. He wasn't sure how Cristina felt about their date the previous day, but he knew that he wanted to see her again. "Great. So I'll pick you up at six."

"Six o'clock is good. I'm looking forward it." A big silly grin appeared on Cristina face as she told Jackson her address, reassuring him that he would find the way to her apartment.

"Okay, I get it. Can't wait to see you again," Jackson said and smiled for himself. He really couldn't wait. He hadn't stopped thinking about Cristina since the moment she left his apartment and luckily for him she felt the same.

"Me neither. So if that's all, I need to get back to work." Cristina sighed. She didn't like saying that, but the truth was that if she didn't get back to her work back to her work soon, she'd have to stay at work overtime. And she didn't like that idea at all.

"Oh, yes. Sorry for interrupting you at work. See you on Saturday. Bye," Jackson quickly said goodbye to her, not wanting to slow her down in her work. They still had the whole of Saturday evening ahead of them and he couldn't be more excited about it.

"Bye," she basically whispered, biting her lip to prevent herself from squealing with excitement.

Saturday could not come soon enough.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a few days since the date in Jackson's apartment where he showed Cristina his paintings. The following day he called her and they planned to go to a dinner together. Both of them were quite excited about it and couldn't wait to see each other again. The chemistry between them was obvious from miles away and neither of them tried to deny it.

The clock in Cristina's kitchen showed six in the evening, when she finally finished her make-up. She wasn't used to wearing a lot of it, but since Jackson invited her to a fancy restaurant she wanted to look as good as possible. She was wearing a short strapless dress with a blazer over it and nude heels that were making her legs look longer and sexier. Cristina loved high heels. Even though they weren't really comfortable. She noticed the way Jackson looked at her legs the first time they met and decided to tease him a little, showing him more of them.

Suddenly there was a slight knock on the door and Cristina's face lit up, knowing exactly who it was. "Hey." She smiled at him, as she opened the door.

"Hey," Jackson greeted her and pressed a small kiss to her lips before taking a step back and admiring how beautiful she looked. "You look gorgeous," he praised her and handed her a bouquet of tulips. "These are for you. I thought you may like some real ones so…"

"They're beautiful. Thank you." Cristina smiled at him, as she sniffed to the flowers. "Come inside. I'll just put them in a vase and we can go," she said and guided Jackson to her apartment.

"It's really nice here," Jackson said as he walked inside and looked around. There wasn't much to see, since Cristina's apartment was really small, but he noticed bunches of her photos everywhere.

"I'm sorry for the mess. I didn't expect you to come inside." Her cheeks got a little red when she realized how messy her apartment was. Especially compared to Jackson's.

"Does it mean you didn't consider inviting me here after the dinner?" Jackson grinned, mocking her a little.

"No," she answered sincerely, holding back laugh when she saw Jackson's disappointed face. "I have a third date rule." Cristina shrugged her shoulders and grabbed her purse. "We can go," she announced.

"I'm pretty sure you'll want to break that rule after spending evening with me," Jackson said self-consciously as he wrapped his arm around Cristina's waist, as they left her apartment.

"Aren't you too confident Mr. Avery?" Cristina asked with laugh, using his last name to show him that going on a date with her didn't mean he won.

"I just know myself well enough. And I'm telling you I'm right." He winked at her, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. If he wanted to prove that he was right, he had to try hard.

After a few minutes of riding in the car that they spent talking about art and other hobbies, Jackson stopped the car in front of a luxurious restaurant. He got out of the car, quickly moving to the other side and opening the door for Cristina.

"Wow!" Cristina exclaimed as she looked around, seeing one of the fanciest restaurants in Seattle. "Do you take all your new girlfriends here?" she asked with laugh. She knew it probably wasn't an appropriate question, but it was bugging her the whole ride. Even though she had never been there, she knew how expensive the food was in this restaurant. And if Jackson took her there it had to mean something.

"Only the special ones." He winked at her and handed his car keys to a guy standing next to them, before taking Cristina's hand into his and guiding her inside.

A waiter led them to their table where they ordered their drinks and then picked up their menus, looking for something appetizing to eat.

"Everything looks so delicious," Cristina said as she looked through the menu, not knowing what to choose. "But the prices..." she whispered to herself, but Jackson heard her.

"Don't worry about the price. It's my treat tonight. Just pick what you want." Jackson smiled and his eyes came back to his menu. There was no way he would let Cristina pay for herself, that was for sure. He always treat women like a gentleman. Whether they liked it or not.

"Oh, okay." She nodded. Cristina wasn't used to anyone paying for her. She didn't go to dates very often and they usually ended up in a fisaco so she had to pay for herself and sometimes even for the guy. A date with Jackson seemed to be a nice change. As they waited for the waiter to come back, they made small talk about everything and yet nothing at all. They both really enjoyed each other's presence, surprised how easily the conversation flowed.

"Wow! Are you sure you're gonna be able to eat all that? I mean... You're so… tiny." Jackson noted, raising his eyebrows after they placed their order. Considering how slim Cristina was he expected her to order plain salad and a glass of water. But instead of that she asked the waiter to bring her roast beef with extra portion of potatoes and carrots.

"I prefer to be called petite," she said, glaring at him. Cristina has always had a good appetite and she hated how many guys picked that up. It was one of the reasons why many of them didn't get a chance for another date. "And I don't think that telling a girl she eats too much is a good topic for a date," she added bitterly.

"That's not how I meant it," Jackson tried to defend himself. He didn't want to offend Cristina in any way. "I adore your appetite. You know… I love cooking and I hope I'll have the opportunity to show you my skills. I think you'd be able to appreciate it."

"Oh. Well… I'd be happy to try it." A small smile formed on her lips when Jackson revealed that he liked to cook. For some reason Cristina found that incredibly sexy.

"But I'm a little worried that you will criticize me like you do with the models at work. I heard you made some of them cry." Jackson laughed when he remembered what Mark told him about Cristina. He didn't believe it at first, but Cristina didn't look like she wanted to deny it.

"Who told you that?" Cristina asked confused, not knowing where Jackson got that kind of information.

"So you aren't denying it?" he teased her with a smirk on his face.

"Well, if I made some of them cry, it was because they weren't doing their job." Cristina had to admit, that sometimes she was a little harsh to the models at her work, but she couldn't stand it when people were being unprofessional. "But you didn't answer who told you about me making models cry. I guess it wasn't a little bird who flew around, was it?"

"It certainly wasn't." Jackson laughed. "But as I found out, world is much smaller than I thought." Cristina raised her eyebrows still not understanding what was Jackson trying to say. "My best friend, Mark Sloan has a girlfriend who happens to work at the same magazine like you do," he explained and sipped from the wine that the waiter just brought to their table.

"Little Grey?" Cristina asked surprised. She saw Lexie's boyfriend a couple of times, but she would never think that he could be Jackson's friend. Especially not his best friend as he had just called him.

"Yeah, I guess that's her." Jackson laughed at the nickname that Cristina gave Lexie. "But don't worry. It will take much more than that to scare me away. You can count on another date."

Cristina just wanted to ask him why he was so confident about her wanting to go on an another date with him, but the waiter just came to their table again, finally bringing their food so she just smiled, leaving a sarcastic remark for herself.

There was a moment of silence as they both started to eat, enjoying the delicious taste of the food. While Cristina's eyes were glued to her plate all that time, Jackson couldn't stop himself from looking up every few seconds. He could see that Cristina clearly enjoyed the food and he couldn't be happier about it. "Looks like you chose the food over me." He laughed, when Cristina finished her plate, finally looking at him.

"Sorry to tell you that, but against this food, you have no chance." Cristina giggled, her face getting a little red when she realized she ate the food quicker than Jackson did. "It's delicious."

"So I don't even have to try to cook for you sometime?" he asked, pretending to be hurt.

"We'll see." She shrugged, giving Jackson a big smile and sipped from her glass. She had to admit that the date was going better than she expected. The food was delicious, the music was great and her conversation with Jackson flowed really naturally.

"So, tell me, Cristina. What made you agree to go on a date with me?" Jackson asked after a while of silent yet comfortable staring at each other. This question had been on his mind since the moment Cristina agreed to go out with him. Even though on the outside he seemed to be quite confident, on the inside he had some doubts about himself and he really wanted to know what Cristina liked about him.

"Honestly? I don't know," she answered with laugh. Cristina wanted to see Jackson again since she left his apartment, but she couldn't quite tell what made her feel this way. Maybe it was the light eyes, the shiny smile or maybe just the fact, that she felt really good in his company. "I guess I wanted to know what's hiding under that pretty smile."

"Have you found out already?" Jackson was really curious about her answer.

"Maybe," she answered, trying to keep her answers as mysterious as possible. "But I guess you should give me more opportunities to get to know you."

"Are you asking me out?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise, happy that Cristina even considered meeting him again.

"If you agree, then yes, I'm asking you out," Cristina replied with laugh.

"I'm definitely saying yes." A wide smile spread across his face as he finished the sentence. Their date hadn't even ended yet and Jackson already knew he would see Cristina again. It couldn't have gone any better better, could it?

"How can you choose Christina Aguilera over Madonna? She's the queen of pop!" Cristina exclaimed while Jackson guided her back to her apartment. They spent the whole ride back from the restaurant talking about music, trying to convince each other about their truth.

"Yeah, but she's been the queen of pop for the past twenty years. I think it's time for someone else to take over. And the muscles of her arms seriously freak me out." He grinned, knowing that Cristina wouldn't agree with him, no matter what he said. But at least it would make him spend a little more time with her before leaving for the night.

Cristina burst into laugh as she heard Jackson's last argument. She had to admit that he was right about the muscles thing, but not even that made her agree with him completely. "How about we compromise and agree that Christina Aguilera is the second best?" she suggested.

"Okay, but only if you agree that comedy films are better than horrors."

Cristina rolled her eyes before bursting into laugh again. "Okay. I agree. But you only think that because you haven't seen a good horror yet."

"You really have to have the last word, don't you?" Jackson asked with a smirk, wrapping his arms around Cristina's waist and pulling her closer to him.

"I do." She nodded her head, not even trying to deny it. She has always been stubborn and tried to convince others about her truth and she was glad that Jackson didn't mind it. In fact, he was the same.

"It was a really nice evening," he said after a while of silence, hoping that Cristina saw it the same way.

"It was," she agreed with a small smile forming on her lips. She tried not to expect too much from the date, but in the end she was pleasantly surprised. Jackson didn't turn out to be a freak and he also didn't run away during the dinner, leaving her to pay for everything. He'd been a perfect gentleman the whole evening.

He leaned over, kissing her one more time before saying goodbye. He didn't want to leave, but he also didn't want to push their relationship too much. If she wasn't ready to invite him to her apartment, then he was okay with it. After all, they already agreed they would go on another date, so there was no need to rush. After several seconds of wordless saying goodbye to each other he pulled away a little, still staring into Cristina's chocolate brown eyes.

Cristina bit her lip lower lip, knowing that she was about to break one of the rules she made herself, but she also knew that if she didn't do it, she would regret it. "Would you like to come inside?" she suggested and a small shy smile appeared on her lips. "I have wine. And... I could show you some of my photos. If you want."

"I'd love to." Jackson's face immediately lit up. He was hoping she would say these words and couldn't hide the silly smile when she did.

Cristina returned his smile and pulled her keys out of the small purse she had on her shoulder, unlocking the door to her apartment and walking in. "Make yourself comfortable and I'll bring the wine in a second." She pointed to the small couch, before walking over to the kitchen that was connected to the living room. "Do you want red wine or white?" Cristina asked, while she leaned to the bottom shelf of the fridge.

"Whichever makes you stay in that position a little longer. It's a really nice view," Jackson said jokingly, sticking his tongue out a little, while he watched her looking for the wine.

"Hey! I didn't give you a permission to look at my ass!" she hissed, but then burst into laugh. "That's why I have the third date rule. Guys inside my apartment always get this pervy."

"It's not my fault that you look so good in that tight dress." Jackson shrugged, putting on an innocent smile. During the evening he had noticed how those little compliments always made her smile and he decided to continue with it.

"You're horrible." Cristina laughed as she put two glasses and a bottle of wine on the coffee table. "But I like you," she added a few seconds later and winked at him. "So which photos do you want to see first? The ones from Africa or from Asia?" she asked and pulled out two big photo albums.

"You've been to Africa?" Jackson asked surprised. From the moment he and Cristina met she was talking about photography a lot, but never mentioned travelling to such an interesting country. But as he remembered the photos of gazelles in sunset he saw months ago it all suddenly made sense to him.

"Yeah. About a year and half ago," Cristina said nonchalantly like it wasn't a big deal. Thanks to her love for photography she had an opportunity to visit many interesting countries, but even though she loved that, there was nothing better than being back home.

Cristina opened the photo album, showing Jackson various photos, occasionally adding a little story about how it was taken. Jackson was amazed by Cristina's work, hanging on her every word.

"Wow, this one looks pretty close," Jackson said as he pointed to a close up photo of a lion.

"Yeah, it is." Cristina laughed as she remembered the time when she took the photo. Back then it wasn't funny at all, but now she just smiled. "I had to get really close to the lion so I could get the details. And believe me nothing is scarier than the feeling of lion's breath on your face."

"Wow, you must be brave." Jackson nodded admirably.

"I'm a thrill seeker." Cristina shrugged, trying not to make a big deal about that. Since she'd been a little kid, she always loved dangerous situations. Her parents tried to talk her out of it, but apart for being a thrill seeker she was also really stubborn. They continued looking through the photos, their hands touching as they laughed. "Damn, it's so hot here," Cristina said suddenly and took off her blazer, putting it on the side of the couch. She didn't know if it was the temperature in the room or if it was Jackson's presence that was suddenly making her feel so hot.

"It's definitely hotter now." Jackson chuckled as he watched her taking off the unnecessary clothes and the only thing that was now covering her shoulders were her dark curls.

"Does the lack of clothes make you feel uncomfortable?" she asked flirtatiously, while she ran her hand through her hair. She had to try really hard not to burst into laugh, when she saw him gasping and his eyes widening.

"No, not at all." He shook his head, trying to look away, but he couldn't. Cristina looked so hot and even though he tried to stop himself from imagining inappropriate things it was impossible. He felt his manhood getting harder and her flirtatious behavior wasn't helping it at all.

Cristina tried not to laugh when she saw how he was checking her out, mentally fighting with himself whether to rip off her clothes or not. "Maybe if you took off your jacket..." she suggested, biting her lip as she ran her hand down his arm, torturing him a little more.

"I think that's a good idea." Jackson nodded and quickly took off his jacket. He knew that Cristina was playing with him, but he also knew there was no way he would let her win. "Are you sure you wanna play this game? Because I'm damn good at it," he whispered to her ear in a husky voice while he put his hand on her thigh, slowly moving it up.

Cristina took a deep breath as she pushed back a moan in the back of her throat. If Jackson wanted to play with her, then she wouldn't make it easy for him. "So am I," she replied with a smirk before finally pressing her lips against his and pushing him onto the couch. The photos they were looking at just a minute ago were quickly forgotten as their tongues battled inside their mouths. They both became more and more aroused as their kisses became more passionate.

Jackson pulled away a little, trying to catch his breath before he ran his tongue along Cristina's earlobe, smirking when he heard her gasp for air. "You like this?" he asked and his hot breath tickled her skin, sending a shiver down her spine.

She mumbled a quiet 'yes', before her lips moved to his neck, lightly biting the soft skin, leaving bright red marks here and there. The heat between them was becoming unbearable with every upcoming second and they both hoped for just one thing. To take off each other's clothes. Cristina was already impatient so she slid her hand between them and slowly started to rub Jackson's crotch, knowing it would speed up the situation.

"Umm... Cristina…" he mumbled between kisses. "If you don't stop I won't be able to hold back much longer." He looked down at his pants that were slowly getting tighter as his arousal grew under her touch. He wanted to rip off her clothes at least as much as she wanted it, but he was also leaving her some space if she changed her mind and decided to back off.

"Do I look like I want you to hold back?" Cristina asked with a slight giggle.

"I've thought you have a third date rule." He raised his eyebrows, trying to look surprised, while doing a happy dance on the inside because Cristina has just indirectly invited him to her bed.

"I do, but rules are meant to be broken. And I've always been a rule breaker." She shrugged and put on an innocent smile.

"In that case…" he said and grabbed her legs, securely wrapping them around his waist. "I think we should move into your bedroom." He stood up from the couch, holding Cristina up with one arm, while his other hand was looking for the zipper of her dress. If she wasn't so busy giggling and lightly kissing his neck she would have surely been impressed how easy he lifted her with just one arm.

As Jackson walked into Cristina's bedroom, he put her on her feet again and let her already unzipped dress fall on the floor. She was not wearing a bra underneath and now she stood in front of Jackson almost completely naked. He took some time, while his eyes ran up and down her body and Cristina felt her cheeks getting red. When he didn't say anything for several never ending seconds, Cristina assumed he didn't like what he saw and awkwardly tried to cover her body with her hands.

"Don't do that," Jackson said softly, stopping her from covering herself.

"But you weren't saying anything so I assumed…" The worry and nervousness mixed in her voice, not knowing what was going on in Jackson's head.

"I was just thinking about how beautiful you look." He smiled at her, immediately making her feel better, before wrapping his arms around her again and laying her on the bed so they could continue exactly where they stopped. She quickly started to unbutton his shirt, tossing it away. A wide smile came across her face, when she noticed his precisely shaped abs. While Cristina was still smirking at him, staring at his masculine body he continued kissing her neck and chest, enjoying the smoothness of her skin beneath his lips. He paid some attention to her breasts before moving lower while whispering Cristina's name against her skin, making her shiver. She giggled when his hot breath tickled her and her reaction made him smile. "Do you want me to slow down?" He looked concerned, when he heard her gasp as he placed a small kiss on her lower abdomen. "Because I will if you don't feel up to it."

"No," she shook her head. She was glad Jackson has remained a gentleman the whole evening, but at this moment there was nothing she would want more than him. "I just think you still have too many clothes on," she added with a smirk, as her hands moved to his pants, undoing them and pulling them down to his knees.

He quickly pulled them off, tossing them to the rest of their clothes, before coming back to Cristina, capturing her lips between his. They continued kissing, exploring each other's mouth with their tongues, while their hands wandered all over their bodies.

Jackson's hand slowly slipped inside her panties, touching her in the all the right places. He loved the way she reacted to his touch. How she raised her hips when his fingers penetrated her and how she moaned when his thumb rubbed the most sensitive part of her body. He could feel how much she wanted him. But that wasn't enough for him. He wanted her to need him.

Cristina softly whimpered as the tension between her legs became unbearable. She had to admit that Jackson had a pair of very skilled hands that could be used for more than just painting. "Take them off," she whispered quietly, yet urgently, pointing to the tight piece of fabric that was suddenly driving her crazy. Just like Jackson. But he took his time, teasing her some more, before hooking his thumbs in the hem of her panties and pulling them down to her ankles and she impatiently kicked them away. The second they hit the ground, Cristina grabbed the back of his neck and pulled their faces closer, so they were looking into each other's eyes again. "I want you." The despair was obvious in her voice, but it only made Jackson want to tease her some more.

"I want you to need me." He smirked and moved down her body again. He pressed a few soft kisses on the inside of her thighs, slowly making his way up, until he reached her center and felt her trembling beneath his lips. Another impatient but pleasurable groan escaped her mouth when his tongue lightly entered her.

"Please, Jackson," she was begging him now and Jackson knew it was time to give her what she wanted. What they both wanted.

"Do you have..."

"In the bedside table," she answered sooner then he finished the question.

Just a few seconds later he was back on top of her, "You sure you want this?" he asked just to reassure himself, while his fingers softly caressed her cheek.

"I need this. I need you," she answered breathlessly.

He pressed his lips against hers one more time and entered her with one swift move, making them both gasp and moan in pleasure. "Oh, God..." he muttered under his breath and wrapped her legs around his waist, allowing himself to bury even deeper into her."It feels so... good. You... feel so good," Jackson whispered into her ear, nuzzling her neck and softly kissing her, while he slowly started to build his pace. He buried his face into her wild curls, inhaling the fresh smell of apple shampoo while whispering sweet nothings to her.

Cristina was running her hand through Jackson's short hair, while her heartbeat was getting faster and her breathing was getting heavier with every minute he was inside of her. She hadn't felt so good for a very long time and decided to fully enjoy every single second. As their moans got more frequent, Cristina closed her eyes, knowing that it wouldn't take too long for a wave of pleasure to take over her. "Don't stop... I'm gonna..." She tried to whisper, but Jackson's tongue filled her mouth again, putting her over the edge. Just a few seconds later her hips raised and a series of loud satisfied groans left her throat.

Jackson tried to last as long as possible, letting Cristina come first, but she wasn't making it easy for him. As he felt her walls clenching around him, he knew he couldn't hold off any longer and they both came in almost perfect sync. He fell on the bed next to her, both breathless and sweaty having the biggest silly smiles on their faces "This was..." Jackson started, still trying to catch his breath.

"Amazing," Cristina finished for him, finally opening her eyes and her smile grew even bigger when he leaned over, pressing their lips together one more time.

Jackson still couldn't believe that it was happening. A few weeks ago she was just a famous photographer he wanted to meet one day and now she was lying beside him, naked and sweaty, smiling at him because they'd just had the best sex he'd ever experienced. "I'll be right back," he whispered before disappearing in the bathroom for a second.

When he came back, Cristina was already lying on her stomach, resting her head in her hands with a small mysterious smile playing on her lips. "What?" he asked as he lay back back on the bed, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer.

"Nothing." She shook her head, not very convincingly.

"Come on. Tell me," he prompted her with a smile, while his hand ran through her hair, sticking one of her curls behind her ear.

"I just... When you came here today, you said I'll want to break my third date rule. And I laughed, thinking this wouldn't be the case. But you were right." She giggled, realizing that she had underestimated Jackson the whole evening.

"I'm always right." He smirked before kissing her again. They both laid there in a silence for a while, listening to their heartbeats getting back to normal, while quietly enjoying each other's presence in the blissful afterglow. "Do you want me to stay or should I..." Jackson decided to interrupt the silence with a question that has been bugging him for a while.

"You can stay if you want," Cristina said nonchalantly. She wasn't used to guys staying overnight, but as she already found out, with Jackson everything was different. And the idea of waking up next to such a hot man didn't sound bad either. "But we're not gonna cuddle." She raised her finger and Jackson just laughed.

"We will see," he replied with a grin and no sooner than she tried to resist, he rolled her on her back again and kissed her. "Because I'm a very good cuddler."

If their date wasn't perfect before, then now it definitely was.


	6. Chapter 6

The following morning Jackson woke up in a bed other than his own. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was still in Cristina's apartment. However, she was no longer lying beside him. He quickly put on his boxers and walked to the kitchen looking for her.

"Good morning," Cristina said with a big smile on her lips, when she spotted Jackson enter. She was wearing his shirt that came down to her mid thigh and her hair was a little messy, but he found that incredibly sexy.

"Good morning," he answered, wrapping his arm around her waist and putting a slight kiss on her lips. "Why are you up so early?"

"I woke up and thought I could do some breakfast. But then I realized I can't actually cook, so at least I made coffee," she explained and handed Jackson a cup. "And I also have to be at work in about an hour."

"It's Sunday," he said confused. It's been a while since Jackson had a 'normal work', but he knew that most of the people didn't work on Sunday. So he hoped that Cristina was one of them and they could spend the whole day together.

"I know, but the magazine deadline is tomorrow and I need to finish a few things." Cristina looked at him apologetically. She really wanted to spend the day with him, but she's been postponing her work for a very long time and she couldn't do it anymore.

"Oh, so no morning sex?" he asked with a cheeky grin, while his hand wandered under his shirt that she wore, cupping her ass with one hand, while he tried to balance the cup he held in the other hand.

Cristina giggled. "I didn't say that," she whispered in a seducing tone, stepping closer to him and slowly slipping her hand under the hem of his boxers. "But it'll need to be quick."

"Anyway you want it." A huge grin spread across his face as he put the cup of coffee back on the table, before pushing Cristina towards the bathroom, kissing her sensuously. Hell of a way to start a day. They both thought as the door behind them closed with a click.

"You're late," Meredith announced with a hint of annoyance in her voice, when Cristina rushed into the kitchenette fifteen minutes later than usually.

"I know," Cristina replied and quickly filled her cup of coffee before sinking into a chair opposite Meredith.

"You're never late." Meredith looked at her suspiciously. Cristina wasn't the most punctual person, but she has never been so late for their morning coffee meetings. And considering the fact that Cristina had a date with Jackson last night, Meredith could easily guess the reason for her late arrival.

"I know," she said, sipping from her coffee. She could feel Meredith's eyes staring at her, impatiently waiting for some details or any kind of information about her date.

"Did something delay you? Or should I say someone?" Meredith asked. A big grin formed on her face as she saw Cristina's ears getting red, signalizing she was right.

Cristina hated when that happened, when the redness on her face gave away more than she was willing to admit. "So what? So I spent night with Jackson. Big deal." She shrugged trying not to make a fuss about it, even thought she knew it was more than just sex. She was falling for him. Even faster than she thought she would. But during those few hours they spent together, she'd been happy. Truly happy.

"What happened to your third date rule?" Meredith asked curiously. She knew that Cristina had a couple of rules and one of them was not to invite a guy to her place sooner than on the third date. Unless it was supposed to be a one night stand of course. But that didn't happen very often.

"Have you ever believed that crap?" Cristina gave her the look that told her it wasn't the first time she broke one of her rules.

"You're right. So tell me, how was it?"

"I'm not gonna tell you anything." She shook her head, trying to resist the urge to tell Meredith every detail. Cristina always tried to keep her private life private, but at the same time she was dying to boast about the amazing night she had.

"Oh, c'mon. Just a few details. Please!" Meredith pleaded, hoping Cristina would reveal at least a little bit.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in my love life?"

"I have a nine month old baby and a busy husband. Listening to your stories is the closest thing to sex I can get." The tone of her voice was almost desperate and Cristina decided not to torture her friend anymore.

"Okay, then." She raised her hands, pretending to give up. "I will describe it all in one word," Cristina said before mouthing 'wow'.

"Seeing the big grin on your face I suppose it was a good wow."

"It was a hot, amazing and mind-blowing wow," Cristina explained, almost moaning at the thought of the previous night. "It's like when you have an itch for a really long time and then someone appears to scratch it. And Jackson scratches it really good."

"I can't even remember the last time Derek really scratched me." Meredith sighed, curling her lips into a scowl. She loved her daughter and her husband, but seeing how happy Cristina was right now, she started to miss the first phases of relationship. The ones where Derek and her were getting to know each other and spent every night having amazing sex. "It's more like a slight stroke every now and then." She frowned and pursued her lips, trying to remember the last time she and Derek had a night just for themselves.

After those words there was a moment of silence, while they just enjoyed their morning coffee, both lost in their own thoughts. "If I want to finish my work before noon I should get to it right now," Cristina said as she got up from her chair and put the cup into the sink.

"What's happening at the noon?" Meredith asked, knowing from the smile on Cristina's face that it probably had to do something with Jackson.

"Jackson is picking me up so we can go get lunch together."

"Three dates in a week? You must really like him." Meredith laughed.

A genuine smile appeared on Cristina's lips before answering. "I do," she said and left the kitchen, knowing she still had a lot of work ahead of her.

"Hey Meredith." Jackson greeted her after he lightly knocked on the door of the kitchenette and walked in. "Is Cristina here?"

"Hi." Meredith smiled, when she saw the tall man. Now she could totally see why Cristina fell for him so quickly. In the daylight, his eyes were even more intense and his abs were clearly visible under the thin fabric of his shirt. "I think she's in her office," she blurted out quickly after a while of silent staring at him and leaned over to her daughter who was sitting in a car seat on the table. She hoped Jackson didn't notice that she was checking him out a little. "If you look after my girl for a second, I'll let her know you're here," Meredith said, still trying to avoid those piercing eyes.

"No problem," Jackson answered with a smile that would make any woman weak in her knees and Meredith quickly left the kitchen, heading towards Cristina's office.

She knocked on the door and then opened it, not even waiting for Cristina's permission. "There is a very handsome man waiting for you in the kitchenette. Should I tell him to wait or are you too halted with work?" Meredith asked with smirk. "Because if you leave him there alone for more than five minutes, I'm pretty sure there will be someone who will try to seduce him." She laughed, as she knew she was totally right. It wouldn't take too long before any of their female co-workers noticed him and tried to throw themselves at him. But Meredith couldn't really blame them for that.

"Jackson? Oh, crap. He was supposed to pick me up at noon and it's already 12:10. I totally forgot about time." Cristina slapped her forehead when she looked at the clock, realizing she was late for her lunch with Jackson. Before he dropped her off at her work that morning they agreed to go to a little Italian restaurant for a lunch. They both really enjoyed the previous evening and couldn't wait to see each other again. However, Cristina really quickly forgot about time when she threw herself into the work, trying to finish everything before the deadline. "Tell him I'll be there in a minute," she said and quickly started to pack her things.

"Will do." Meredith nodded and left with a silly smile on her lips. She has never seen her friend acting like this. It was like she suddenly turned into a love struck teenage girl. But at least she was happy. And Meredith was happy for her. When she came back to the kitchenette, she was caught by surprise, when she saw Jackson holding Adrienne, while gently rocking her in his arms and humming something into her ear.

"After you left she started to cry, so I hope you don't mind I picked her up," Jackson said apologetically when he noticed the strange expression on Meredith's face, when she spotted him holding her daughter. "I guess she just missed her mum. But I managed to stop those tears." He smiled at the little light-haired girl in his arms. Apparently his charm was working on women of all ages, because Adrienne was now giving him a cute little smile.

"It's okay. Cristina will be here soon." Meredith said before coming closer to Jackson and taking her daughter back to her arms. "Come to mama, Addie. You are too young for such a handsome guys like Jackson. There will be enough time for that." Meredith and Jackson both laughed as she spoke to Adrienne.

"Enjoy it while she's so little. Kids grow up really fast." Jackson sighed and stroked the little girl's back.

"They do," Meredith nodded. It felt like yesterday when Adrienne was born and now she was almost a year old. The time really ran fast. "Do you have any kids?" she asked curiously. It probably wasn't the best question to start with, but seeing as natural Jackson looked when holding Adrienne woke up a whole lot of questions in Meredith's head.

"I don't know about any," Jackson answered with laugh. "But maybe in the future." He smiled and then there was a moment of awkward silence. Meredith had so many questions she wanted to ask him, to find out if he was worth Cristina, but she stopped herself. Her best friend would probably kill her if she tried to scare away her new boyfriend like that.

"I hope you're aware of the fact, that as Cristina's best friend I have the right to kick your ass if you hurt her," Meredith said suddenly to change the topic. Good move when you try not to scare him off. Meredith thought, chuckling a little because even her thoughts sounded sarcastic.

"If I wasn't aware of that before, now I totally am." Jackson laughed. "But don't worry I'll do my best."

"Good. Because she's been through enough and she doesn't deserve to get hurt again." She raised her finger to show Jackson that she was serious about her words.

"She's special." Jackson's eyes lit up immediately when he mentioned Cristina. It felt a little crazy, but he was falling in love with her. Even faster than he thought was possible. He hoped she felt the same way and luckily for him, she did.

"Who is special?" Cristina asked with a wide smile when she entered the kitchen and greeted Jackson with a peck on the lips.

"You," he answered, pulling her closer to him and kissing her one more time. Jackson couldn't get enough of their kisses. The feeling of her full soft lips lightly brushing against his was too good to stop.

"I hope Mer didn't try to scare you off." Cristina said when she and Jackson finally pulled away from each other and glared at Meredith. She knew that her friend would try to protect her and that she probably already told Jackson, what will happen to him if he hurts her.

"It will take much more than one petite woman to scare me off." Jackson smirked and Meredith glared at him. "But I'm aware of all the parts of my body that will get kicked if I happen to hurt you. So I promise that's not gonna happen."

"Good. Because Meredith is stronger than she looks." She winked at him and Meredith nodded.

"Maybe we should go before you really scare me off." They all laughed and then Cristina with Jackson quickly said their goodbyes to Meredith and Adrienne, before leaving the kitchen, holding hands. None of them noticed that there was another pair of eyes watching them the whole time.

After a light lunch in one of the best Italian restaurants in Seattle, Jackson suggested to take a walk in the nearest park. Cristina wasn't the type of girl who would be into romantic walks in the park, but once Jackson looked at her with his soft, yet intense eyes she wasn't able to say no to him. A short walk couldn't hurt, could it?

"I haven't been here for years," Cristina thought out loud and took a piece of cotton candy, putting it into her mouth. She had to admit that the walk in a park wasn't such a bad idea after all. The cool spring air was pleasantly refreshing and it was a nice change from her dark and dull office. She took a deep breath, inhaling the smell scent of early blooming flowers and freshly mowed grass and it immediately brought a smile to her face

"It's not Africa, but it's still pretty here." Jackson grinned, stealing some of the fluffy sugar from Cristina. "And it's romantic."

"I didn't know you were a romantic type of guy," Cristina said smirking.

"I took you for a dinner to a really fancy restaurant yesterday. Wasn't that romantic enough?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. Maybe his steps to make Cristina fall in love with him weren't as obvious as he thought. Or maybe she was just pretending not to see it to tease him a little.

"It wasn't just one of the steps in your 'how to charm any woman in five seconds' program?"

"Nope." Jackson shook his head slowly before stopping in his walk and pulling Cristina closer to him. "I made up this step just for you," he smiled and softly captured her lips with his. Cristina immediately responded to his kiss, her fingertips tracing along his stubble-covered jaw. When their tongues touched, they quickly forgot they were still in the middle of the park full of people who tried to enjoy their Sunday afternoon and the light kiss turned into a heavy make out session.

"Get yourself a room. This is a park." Annoyed voice of an older woman brought them back to the reality and they quickly pulled away from each other, their cheeks reddened, due to embarrassment. Right now they both felt like teenagers that just got caught by their parents while they were making out on the backseat of a car. They quickly apologized to the older lady who was still glaring at them.

"I guess we should keep walking before someone calls the police," Jackson suggested and they both burst into laughter.

"Good idea." Cristina nodded, still laughing a little and put her head on Jackson's shoulder, slowly walking away together.

"Thank you for the nice afternoon," Cristina said with a smile, when Jackson walked her to the doors of her apartment. After the little incident in the park, they decided it would be better to head home.

"The pleasure is all mine." Jackson smiled and leaned over to kiss her. "Sweet as a cotton candy," he whispered against her lips and stuck one of her curls behind her ear, while his light green eyes were still glued to her chocolate brown ones.

"You're just imagining that." Cristina giggled, pulling him in for another sweet kiss. She couldn't get enough of their kisses either.

"Maybe, but it feels real." He shrugged with his arms still wrapped around her small waist.

"Do you want to come inside or do you wanna risk that one of my neighbors will see us making out and actually call the police?" she asked, pursing her lips and then bursting into laugh.

Jackson just sighed, not happy about the answer he was about to give her. "You have no idea how much I'd like to come inside, but there is a dozen of unfinished paintings in my apartment and if I don't refuse your offer, I'll never get to them. What means that I won't get any money for them and I'll have no place to live," he said apologetically. He'd love to spend the rest of the day with Cristina, but after he dropped her at work that morning he got a call from one of his clients, asking whether the painting for them is already finished and Jackson had to admit, that he had barely started. The beautiful Asian kept his mind occupied the whole week and he couldn't really focus on his work. "I'll make it up to you. I promise," he added when he saw the disappointed expression on her face.

"You better. Or I'll have to find someone better than you." Cristina grinned at him and stuck her tongue out. She really wished Jackson would stay, but she also understood that he had his work too. Even if it meant staying at home for hours, starring at a blank canvas.

"You wouldn't do that. There is no one better than me and you know that," Jackson said confidently like he always did and gave her one of his flawless shiny smiles.

"Don't be so sure, Mr. Perfect." She laughed and playfully punched him in the arm. "Guys are lining up for me. I'm pretty sure I'll find someone."

Jackson just shook his head smiling and leaned over to kiss Cristina one more time before leaving. "Goodbye, Cristina, and tell those guys to find a different line to stand in. There is no place for them in this one."

"Will do," Cristina giggled. She was pleasantly surprised how comfortable she felt with Jackson. They've known each other for just a week, but it felt like they've been dating for months. They could joke around, make inappropriate comments and it wasn't weird at all. "Goodbye." She shot him one of her best smiles and watched him disappear behind the corner, before finally unlocking her apartment and walking inside. She knew this smile wouldn't disappear so quickly. Because she was happier than she has been in months.


	7. Chapter 7

"What would you say to a double date?" Jackson asked casually during dinner. He and Cristina had been dating a little over a month and every Friday he picked her up after work so they could spend some time together. Sometimes they decided to go to a restaurant and have a fancy dinner and other times they just ended in Jackson's apartment having hot sex all night and then eating cold pizza in the bed. This week they picked up some Chinese and head to Cristina's apartment. So here they were, eating some Kung Pao and Spring Rolls while watching old cheesy movies.

"A double date?" Cristina lifted her eyebrows in surprise, no longer paying attention to the TV.

"It was not my idea." Jackson raised his hands innocently, when he saw that Cristina didn't seem to be very excited about his suggestion. "Mark asked me about it today. He said that Lexie read about it in one girly magazine. It's supposed to spice up the relationship or something like that."

"I don't think our relationship needs to spice up. We barely started dating." Cristina pursed her lips, as if feeling offended that Jackson said their relationship was getting boring.

"Really? Because it's Friday night and we're in your apartment, eating Chinese while watching TV. I could imagine more interesting things to do."

"I just... I don't know if double date is the best idea," she said and her eyes came back to the television screen, hoping the conversation was over. But it wasn't.

"Why not? I think it could be fun." Jackson didn't stop asking. He got quite excited about the idea of going on a double date with Mark and Lexie and he thought Cristina would like it too. But for some unknown reason she didn't seem to be eager about it at all.

"I don't have the best experiences with double dates," she replied and Jackson gave her a questioning look. She let out a loud sigh when she realized that this answer obviously wasn't enough for him. They never talked about their previous relationships or dating experiences, thinking it would be more awkward than useful, but now it seemed to be time to break this unwritten rule. "Once I was on a double date and my boyfriend kept staring at the other girl's boobs the whole night. I felt so embarrassed but I had to sit next to him and pretend I didn't see it. After that night he obviously wasn't my boyfriend anymore and I told myself I'll never go on a double date again."

"You know I'm not like that, right? I'm not into boobs. I'd rather watch your ass the whole evening." He laughed, ignoring the death glare that Cristina sent him. "And on top of that, Lexie's my best friend's girlfriend. Even if I was interested in her and I'm not, I wouldn't do it to Mark. And most importantly I wouldn't do it to you." He took her hand into his and gave it a light kiss.

It was really hard to resist those puppy eyes that Jackson tried to use to persuade her, but Cristina shook her head. She didn't want to risk their relationship falling apart because one of his friends brought up the idea of double date.

"C'mon, Crissy. It's gonna be fun Just give it a try." Jackson didn't stop trying. He knew that Cristina could be really stubborn when she wanted, but he wouldn't give up so easily.

"Don't call me that." Cristina frowned at the nickname Jackson gave her. She hated when people gave her nicknames and Jackson wasn't an exception.

"Why? I think it's cute."

"That's the main reason why I don't want you to use that," she said, the gloomy expression wasn't leaving her face.

Jackson could see that his girlfriend wasn't in a good mood, but decided not to ask why, worried it would just make the situation worse. So instead of talking he just wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. "So what am I supposed to tell Mark? Do you wanna go with them?" he asked after a few minutes of silence. He hoped that Cristina changed her mind. Even though Jackson loved the evenings that they spent alone, just lying in each other's arms, he really wanted to go out and show what kind, beautiful girlfriend he had to as many people as possible. "It would make me really happy if you decided to get to know my friends better." He gave it one last try.

Cristina just let out a loud sigh and rolled her eyes. She knew that Jackson probably wouldn't shut up about it until she agreed so why would she even try? "Tell him we'll go," she answered and Jackson's face brightened again. She still wasn't completely convinced that it would be a success, but she knew she should give it a try. If not for her at least for Jackson. "But I have one condition." Cristina raised her finger, letting him know that it wouldn't be so easy after all. "I get to choose where we go."

"Whatever you want." Jackson smiled before leaning over to her and softly capturing her lips with his.

Cristina just finished her makeup and put on some big earrings when she heard the sound of the doorbell. "I'm coming," she yelled from the bedroom, and hurried to open the door, while trying not to trip in the high heels. She knew that later that evening she would regret the shoes she chose, but decided to wear them anyway.

"Wow! You look fantastic," Jackson said instead of greeting when Cristina opened the door on her apartment and let him in.

"I always look fantastic." Cristina grinned and he pulled her in for a long kiss. "But you don't look bad either," she added when they pulled away from each other and ran her hand over his chest. "It almost makes me want to stay at home and just rip those clothes of you."

"I'm sure there will be time for that later tonight." Jackson winked at her. "But the cab is already waiting for us in front of the building so just finish dressing or whatever and we can go."

"Actually, I'm finished," she said as she took a reassuring look in the mirror.

"Wait, that's all you're gonna wear?" He raised his eyebrows, pointing to the alarmingly short dress that Cristina was wearing. The dress was barely covering her ass and he could swear that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath.

"Didn't you say that I look fantastic?" She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I did. And you do look fantastic. And hot. But... Maybe too hot for going out in this," he added the last few words in a whisper, knowing that he probably sounded ridiculous. But he really didn't want other men to check Cristina out because she looked so sexy.

"Oh, c'mon. We're not going to church. We're going to a night club. This is what people wear there." She rolled her eyes. "And this dress doesn't even have a low cleavage. Besides I have nothing else to wear and the cab is waiting for us. We have to go."

Jackson just sighed, knowing that he wouldn't win this argument anyway and rather gave up right away. But at least he had to make sure that none of those guys would get near Cristina.

"Looks like Cristina is getting a lot of attention. Aren't you jealous?" Mark asked with a grin and sipped from his whiskey, while he and Jackson watched their girlfriends dancing wildly. They had arrived at the nightclub that Cristina chose less than half an hour ago and she along with Lexie were already on the dance floor, not wasting a single second of that night. Jackson and Mark promised to join them later, after encouraging themselves with a drink first. None of them was a big fan of dancing, but since their girlfriends were clearly enjoying it, they didn't want to ruin the evening for them.

"No," Jackson lied and his grip on the glass he was holding tightened as he brought it to his lips. Of course he was jealous. His very hot girlfriend who was wearing just a tight short dress was dancing in a club full of very horny men and all Jackson could do was to send them angry glares.

"So you are." Mark laughed when he saw Jackson gnashing his teeth, every time some men got close to Cristina.

"How is it possible that you aren't?" Jackson asked because he didn't understand how could Mark stay so calm even though his girlfriend was dancing with a quite drunk man whose eyes wandered to the part of her body that he wasn't supposed to look at.

"It took me a long time. But I trust her," Mark explained shortly. He knew it probably wouldn't satisfy Jackson's question, but it was true. It took him some time to completely trust his girlfriend that she would never betray him or cheat on him, but now he did.

"I trust Cristina. I just don't trust the guys around her," he said and took a sip of his drink, when suddenly he heard a conversation at the next table.

"Do you see that sexy Asian? The one with curly hair?" An unknown blonde haired man asked, nodding his head towards Cristina. "I'm wondering whether she's so wild in the bed too."

"Fifty bucks that I'll get to find out in less than an hour," the other guy that was sitting next to him said. "She doesn't seem to be hard to get." They both burst into laugh and shook their hands as a sign of a deal.

Jackson couldn't listen to things like that any longer and jumped from his seat, heading to Cristina, who was still dancing in the middle of the dance floor and clearly enjoying all the attention she was getting. Mark tried to stop him before he would do something stupid, but he wasn't successful and all he could do was to watch his best friend as the wave of jealousy came over him.

"Hey? What are you doing? Stop! You're embarrassing me," Cristina yelled over the loud music, when Jackson gently grabbed her elbow, pulling her back to the table where Mark was sitting.

"I'm stopping you from embarrassing yourself."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked, still not understanding what was going on. A few seconds ago she was dancing and enjoying the evening, thinking that Jackson did the same and now all she could see in his eyes was anger.

"I'm talking about all the men who are drooling over you and making bets about who will get you to the bed faster." The anger in him was growing the more he talked about it. He couldn't stand the fact that some strangers were talking about his girlfriend like that. And even though it wasn't really Cristina's fault and he didn't want to yell at her, he couldn't help the flow of his emotions.

"Oh, please stop overacting," she scoffed, crossing her arms. Cristina's couldn't believe Jackson's behavior. Even if there were some men checking her out or trying to molest her, she would never agree to go with them. Didn't he trust her?

"I'm not overacting. You're mine and I don't want any of those pervs to get near you."

"Well that's too bad. Because I'm not your possession and I can do what I want!" She shouted, clenching her fists in anger, before walking away and all Jackson could was to be mad at himself for not thinking his words through before letting them out.

After the fight with Jackson, Cristina headed to the ladies restroom. She needed a minute for herself to think about what has just happened and she knew that this would be the only place where Jackson couldn't follow her. She locked herself in one of the stalls closed the lid of the toilet seat and sat down. She hid her face in her hands and took a deep breath, trying to fight the tears building in her eyes. It's been her first real fight with Jackson and the way he talked about her brought some painful memories of her previous boyfriend. After their break up she decided not to let anyone to act like they owned her. So what Jackson just did triggered a wave of unwanted emotions. "Stupid PMS," she cursed under her breath, blaming the hormones for the sudden changes of her mood. Cristina has always been a little moody and hot-tempered, but when it came to the time of the month, she was literally a time-bomb. And even though she knew it wasn't right to blame Jackson for all of this, she was too proud to admit that she could be a little faulty too.

After she dried the few tears from her face, she left the bathroom stall, not noticing that she wasn't alone in the room.

"He really likes you," Lexie said as a matter of fact, trying to find out what kind of mood Cristina was in from the look on her face. After she saw Cristina and Jackson fighting, she came back to their table and Mark explained her what was going on. Apparently Jackson wanted to be an overprotective boyfriend, but it all turned out wrong.

"What?" Cristina asked, pretending she had no idea what was Lexie talking about. She knew that Mark and Jackson probably sent Lexie after her to calm her down a little, but she wouldn't let it be that easy. If Jackson wanted her to forgive him, he had to do something himself.

Lexie just sighed when she saw that Cristina was still mad. And she couldn't blame her. A jealous boyfriend was never a good thing. But she had known Jackson for a long time and she also knew that he acted like that because he cared. Even though it wasn't the best way to show it. "Jackson. The look in his eyes… I have known him for a quite some time and I can tell you I have never seen him this happy. You shouldn't be mad at him."

"Then why is he acting like an idiot and embarrassing me in front of everyone?" Cristina pursed her lips in anger and crossed her arms over her chest.

"That's exactly the reason why he is acting like an idiot. He cares about you and he can't stand the thought of someone hurting you."

"He should be the one telling me this. Not you. If he wants to solve this problem, the he needs to do this alone," Cristina said and turned around on her heel, leaving the restroom.

When they both came back to their table, they noticed Mark and Jackson were already paying the bill, preparing to leave. After the little incident they decided it would be better to move elsewhere.

"Are we leaving?" Lexie was the first one to ask.

"Yeah. We thought that maybe we could move somewhere else," Jackson replied, glancing at Cristina who was still avoiding his look. Despite what Lexie told her, she was still mad. And if Jackson wanted to change that, he would need to try a little harder.

A few minutes later they were all sitting in a cab and nobody except for Jackson knew where they were heading. The ride was quiet and a little uncomfortable since Cristina still wasn't talking to Jackson and the small talk Mark and Lexie tried to start wasn't really helping it. Luckily for all of them it didn't take long before the cab stopped in front of a small building, quiet music coming out of it.

"I didn't know this place still exists. I haven't been here for years," Mark said when they entered Joe's, the bar that he used to visit in his college years. It's been a few years since then, but it looked almost the same.

"You know this place?" Lexie asked, looking around the dark, yet cozy little bar, wondering why Mark never told her about it. It looked like a nice place to hang out.

"Yeah, when Jackson and I were in college, we used to come here all the time." Mark nodded. "It's the best place when you want to spill your guts."

"Well, look who came to see his old favorite place. I wondered what happened to you," a man who stood behind the bar said with a grin on his lips, looking at Mark.

"Joe! Good to see you again." Mark smiled at the bartender. Seeing him after such a long time he remembered all the evenings he spent there, talking to Joe about his current girlfriends. "I thought this place no longer existed. If I knew it's still here, I would definitely come."

"This place has been closed for a while, but now I'm back again. So I hope I'll see you here more often." Mark just nodded, promising that he would definitely come. "And who is this lovely girl? I haven't seen her here before." Joe asked as he turned to Jackson and Cristina who was still a little angry.

"That's Cristina, my girlfriend," Jackson introduced her, hoping the last two words would still be true despite what happened and they all became quiet for a while.

"So what are you going to order?" Joe asked to break the awkward silence.

"Whiskey for us and tequila for the girls, right?" Mark looked at everyone to make sure he was right and Joe nodded.

"It'll be there in a second."

After placing their order the four of them moved to the table in the corner of the room. Lexie tried to carry on a conversation, but despite her effort it didn't make the situation between Jackson and Cristina any less awkward.

"Do you want to dance?" Mark asked all of sudden when his favorite song started to play and Lexie just nodded with a big smile on her face. "Excuse us," he said as they both got up from the table, heading to the small dance floor in the middle of the bar while holding hands. They were glad they finally had a reason to leave Cristina and Jackson alone for a while so they could talk.

"Are you mad?" Jackson asked, when he couldn't stand the awkward silence between him and Cristina any longer. Since the moment he stopped her wild dance in the night club, she barely looked at him. He had no idea what was going on in her head, but he assumed it wasn't anything good.

"Yes," she answered shortly, still avoiding looking at him. She knew that once she would see his puppy eyes, she couldn't be mad any longer. And she didn't want to let him win so easily. Even though she knew he eventually would. But she decided to make him earn it first.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I did. I was… jealous. The guys at the next table were making bets how fast they can get you to their bed and I couldn't just sit there and pretend I didn't hear it. I had to do something," he said and rubbed the back of his neck, while trying to find a way to make Cristina talk to him again. Even though they have been dating just for a couple of weeks, he already found out how stubborn she could be.

"I can take care of myself," she said, her eyes still glued to the table. Cristina always hated when men acted like she wasn't strong enough to take care of herself. Because she was. And Jackson knew that too. Yet, he would do anything to protect her.

"I know. I know," Jackson whispered and took Cristina's hand into his, lightly brushing his finger over the back of it. "I'm sorry I talked about you like you were my possession. That was a stupid thing to do. But I'm your boyfriend. I want to look after you. To make sure that nothing happens to you. Don't you see it, Cristina?"

Cristina didn't say anything and just pressed her lips together, thinking about what Jackson just said. He really seemed to be concerned about her. But she couldn't get rid the feeling, that maybe, one day he would turn into a crazy jealous boyfriend who would want control her every move.

There was a moment of silence between them, both lost in their thoughts. While Jackson was trying to come up with something to make it up to Cristina, she was thinking about what Lexie told her. Maybe Jackson really was acting like an idiot because he cared. Maybe he wasn't like the other guys she dated. And the only way to find out was to risk it. "I think Lexie was right," Cristina said, finally looking up into Jackson's eyes.

"About what?" he asked a little confused. He had no idea what Lexie said to Cristina in the restroom. She only told him she would talk to her and try to help him. And so far he didn't think she was very successful.

"You really are into me." A small genuine smile formed on her lips, as she saw him nervously looking at her, waiting for her answer.

Jackson let out a breath he didn't know was holding and also smiled a little. "Of course I am. And you're driving me crazy. Don't you see it?"

"Sorry. I won't be any different." She replied and put on her innocent face.

"I don't want you to be different," Jackson said and leaned over to capture her lips with his, happy when she didn't pull away and kissed him back instead. "So… Do you wanna dance?" he asked a little hesitantly.

"I thought you said you can't dance." Cristina smirked, torturing him some more, even though she knew that eventually she would agree.

"I can't, but maybe you could teach me." Jackson winked at her and Cristina's smile grew bigger.

She wasn't sure whether she should resist a little longer and torture him some more or if she should just give into Jackson's mesmerizing eyes and enjoy the rest of the night. Lu


	8. Chapter 8

"Are you sure it's not gonna be weird? I barely know your friends," Jackson asked with a with an edge of nervousness in his voice, when he stopped his car in front of Meredith's house. He wasn't used to being nervous when it came to meeting new people, but this time he wanted to to make a good impression. He wanted them to see that he was good enough for Cristina.

"It's going to be fine. At least you get to know them," Cristina said and grabbed a pink gift bag from the backseat of the car.

"But it's your goddaughter's birthday party. I think there are better times to get to know your friends."

"Don't try to get out of this. Meredith wanted me to invite you. It would be rude if you didn't come. Besides, Mark and Lexie will be there. So it's not like you don't know anyone." Cristina rolled her eyes and lightly pressed the doorbell. She understood that Jackson was a little uncomfortable with the thought of joining a party where he barely knew anyone, but she really wanted to officially introduce him to her friends. After all, they have been dating for almost two months now and he kept visiting her at her work so he had already met many of her coworkers.

The front door finally opened and Meredith greeted them with a big smile. "Hey! I'm so glad you came. Just come inside. Everybody is already here," she said and guided them both to the living room where the rest of their friends were chatting vividly with each other.

"Hi, little girl. Happy birthday!" Cristina exclaimed with a smile, as she walked towards Derek who was holding Adrienne and pressed a light kiss on her cheek. Even though Cristina always said she was horrible with kids, when it came to her little goddaughter she was amazing. She didn't know where it was coming from, but when she was near her, she couldn't stop smiling.

"She was actually asking for you." Derek laughed, bouncing his daughter in his arms, making her giggle.

"Of course she was. She loves me." Cristina grinned. "And she'll love me even more when she'll see what I bought her." She raised the gift bag she was holding, before putting it on the table with the rest of the gifts.

Jackson was still standing in the doorway, just silently watching everyone, thinking whether it was a good idea to come to the party. Everybody in the room was already chatting with someone, laughing and he didn't know what to do. When Cristina saw him, she just rolled her eyes before walking towards him and grabbed his hand. "C'mon, Jackson. Don't act like it's your first day in a new school. Eat something, talk to someone and have fun. Try it for me," she said, dragging him to the middle of the living room.

"Okay, okay. I'll try. But it's not my fault if your friends end up hating me." Jackson sighed as a sign of giving up. Cristina just laughed and gave him a light peck on the lips, before disappearing in the crowd of the people. 'Okay, Jackson. Let's socialize.' He thought to himself as he put on a light smile on his lips and moved to the table with food. Where else could he find some new friends if not near the food?

"So you and Yang, huh?" Alex asked as he took a bite of the sandwich he was holding in his hand. "I thought she was too focused on her work to actually date someone." Moments after Jackson walked to the table with food and drinks, Alex had appeared beside him and they casually began to talk. As Jackson already found out, Alex was one of the journalist in Seattle's Metropolitan therefore he knew Cristina quite well.

"Alex! Be nice!" Izzie said in an angry tone as she suddenly appeared beside him. As her eyes rested on who her boyfriend was talking to her face immediately lit up. "Hi, I'm Izzie. You're Jackson, right? We haven't officially met, but I've heard a lot about you. And from what I see, Cristina definitely wasn't lying when she said that her boyfriend is hot."

Jackson laughed at Izzie's last sentence. He didn't expect Cristina to talk about him that way, but he felt flattered. He wondered how much she told her friends about him. That was definitely something he had to ask her about. "Yeah, I guess that would be me," he answered with a laugh and sipped from the beer in his hand.

"Hello, I'm still here. And the last time I checked I was your boyfriend," Alex said sounding offended, when he noticed that Izzie was clearly paying much more attention to Jackson than to him.

"Oh, don't worry babe. You know I love you. I'm just trying to be friendly." She pressed a light kiss to Alex's cheek as an apology before turning her attention back to Jackson. "So you're a painter? That must be interesting. Do you expose your paintings somewhere?"

"Excuse her. She's just super excited when she meets new people," Alex interrupted her rolling his eyes which earned him a light punch in the shoulder from Izzie.

"It's okay. I don't mind." Jackson shook his head with a smile. "Yes I am a painter and it's definitely an interesting job. But I'm not exposing it anywhere. I'm not famous enough to do that. But hopefully, in the future I'll have my own exhibition."

"In that case you'll have to let us know. We'll come to see it," she said excitedly. "Anyway..."

"Looks like Jackson already found someone to talk to," Meredith noted and nodded her head towards where Jackson, Alex and Izzie were standing and talking.

"I'm glad he did. He didn't want to come because he thought it would be awkward because he barely knows anyone here." Cristina rolled her eyes, still not understanding why it was such a big deal for Jackson.

"And as I can see, you forced him to come anyway." Meredith smirked at her best friend. She knew that when Cristina really wanted something she would get it. No matter how hard she had to try. There was no way Jackson could have avoided this party as Cristina wanted him to come.

"I have my ways." Cristina grinned, sticking her tongue out a little. "I just want him to meet my friends. Is that bad?"

"Nope. Not at all." Meredith shook her head. "If you two really are serious about your relationship, then it's good when he knows your friends. None of us are going cut of his head if he isn't perfect," she said and they both burst into laugh.

"Okay, I get your point," Cristina agreed when the wave of laughter finally faded. "We are serious about our relationship. At least I am." A genuine smile spread on her lips when she talked about her relationship with Jackson. Even though they hadn't yet discussed it, Cristina assumed that the things between them were becoming serious. She hoped that Jackson felt the same way.

Meredith didn't say anything and just smiled, also hoping that Jackson was the one for Cristina. He seemed to be a good guy and she knew that her best friend deserved someone just like that.

"So, how do you like the party?" Cristina asked Jackson as he sat beside her on the couch. "You still think it was a bad idea?"

"I hate to admit it but you were right," he said with a grin and pressed a light kiss on her cheek. "Thank you for dragging me here."

Cristina smiled, happy that Jackson liked the party and actually tried to get to know some of her friends. "I saw you talking to Alex and Izzie," she said as she slowly started to bounce Adrienne, who was sitting in her lap, getting bored because her godmother suddenly wasn't paying much attention to her.

"Yeah. They're both nice. Even though Izzie is a little bit too chatty." He chuckled a little and continued. "But she and Alex seem to make a good couple. Not as good as we do, but nice."

"You'll get used to that." Cristina laughed when hementioned they made a better couple than Alex and Izzie did. "Of course we do. We're hot."

"Very deeply hot," Jackson added with a smirk, pulling Cristina in for a passionate kiss.

"Someone is jealous," Cristina said laughing when Adrienne started to pull on her shirt to interrupt their kiss and demand some attention.

"Of course she is. She'd like to have me for herself in the future. Right?" Jackson asked, tickling Adrienne on the belly and making her laugh. "She looks a lot like Meredith," he noted after a while of silent watching Cristina with her goddaughter. For just a split second, he thought that maybe, once he and Cristina could have a daughter of their own. But he quickly put those thoughts away, knowing it was way too early in their relationship to even imagine something like that. He had no idea if Cristina wanted kids at some point in her life. He wasn't even sure if he did. But the picture of Cristina playing with the little girl brought a smile to his lips

"Yes, she does." Cristina nodded in agreement, her hair and eyes had the same color as Meredith and even some facial expressions were really similar. "But she is attention seeker just like her dad," she added a few seconds later, causing them both to laugh.

"It's time for cake!" Meredith announced as she walked into the living room, holding a big pink cake with a big sign saying 'Happy Birthday Adrienne' on it and a candle in the middle. In the meantime, Derek took his daughter from Cristina's arms and everybody started to sing 'Happy Birthday'. The little girl couldn't be more excited about all the attention she was suddenly getting and happily clapped her hands.

Cristina took her camera from the table, waiting for Meredith, Derek and Adrienne to get to their position for a family photo. "Okay everyone, say cheese," Cristina ordered in her professional photographer tone and then took several photos of the happy looking family. With a little help from her parents, Adrienne blew out her very first candle and everybody started to clap. Then it was time for gifts. Even though Adrienne got a huge amount of beautiful presents, the wrapping paper interested her the most, however that wasn't unusual for a child her age.

"I'm surprised Cristina invited you," Owen murmured under his breath when he walked towards Jackson.

"Excuse me?" Jackson said looking up from his plate. The birthday cake was so delicious that for a moment he ignored the world around him and didn't hear what Owen said.

"I'm sorry. I guess I should've introduced myself first," Owen apologized and extended his hand. "I'm Owen Hunt. The Chief Editor."

"Jackson Avery," Jackson replied and shook Owen's hand. "But I assume you already know that."

'Of course I do.' Owen thought to himself as he plastered on a fake smile. He knew very well who Jackson was. He was the reason that Cristina dumped him. Although, she didn't actually dump him as they have never even started dating, but Owen saw it differently. "I just wanted to say that I'm surprised to see you here," Owen said nonchalantly while taking another piece of the birthday cake and Jackson gave him a confused look. "Cristina knew that I was going to be here and despite that she invited you. Talk about an awkward situation."

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're trying to say." Jackson squinted his eyes, trying to figure out what the blond man was talking about. Why would it be an awkward situation? He didn't even know him, did he?

"You know… The whole dating us both at the same time thing. First she was dating me and then she started dating you… I don't know about you, but I felt pretty betrayed when I found out. I broke up with her immediately and I'm surprised you didn't," he explained and put a bit of the cake into his mouth, before giving Jackson another one of his fake smiles. "But I should've expected that. Apparently it was not the first time," he murmured quietly, yet loud enough for Jackson to hear.

Jackson's jaw dropped a little after what Owen said. Was this true? Was Cristina lying to him? The fact that she never mentioned Owen when she was talking about her colleagues made him a little nervous. "I'm… I'm sorry. I have to go," Jackson quickly excused himself and put the plate he still held in his hand back on the table and then quickly disappeared. All he left behind him was just a piece of unfinished cake and devilish smile on Owen's face.

It was short after 9 p.m. when all the guests started to leave the party. Adrienne was already sleeping in her bed and there were just a few leftovers from the food on the tables. Both Meredith and Derek were already tired and they were glad the party was coming to its end. "We're glad you came. See you on Monday," they said countless times as their friends left the house.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay and help you clean up?" Cristina asked when she and Jackson were about to leave too.

"No, it's okay. Derek and I will handle it somehow."

"Okay, then. Good night and see you on Monday," she said and smiled.

"Good night," Jackson said politely and walked to the car with Cristina by his side. They hadn't really talked to each other since his little conversation with Owen. He wanted to think everything through before he jumped to some hasty conclusions. They got to the car and Jackson immediately turned on the radio, trying to ease the uncomfortable silence that was about to happen. He didn't know whether he should believe that guy or not. He didn't know him. He had no idea what kind of person hr was. And yet there was something, a little bit of uncertainty when it came to his relationship with Cristina. They were madly in love with each other. Or at least he hoped so. But what if it wasn't enough? All these thoughts kept Jackson's mind occupied the whole ride and sooner than he realized they were in front of the building where Cristina lived. He stopped the car, still quietly staring in front of him, hesitating if he should ask Cristina the questions that has been bugging him for a while now or rather let it go and leave it for the morning.

"What's wrong?" Cristina's concerned voice brought him back to the reality.

"What?" he asked, pretending he didn't know what she was asking about. But of course he knew. She must've noticed his strange behavior. Anybody would.

"You didn't say anything the whole ride. You barely talked to me since the conversation before Meredith brought the cake. Did something happen?" Cristina began to be really worried now. She has never seen Jackson so quiet and thoughtful before and she had no idea what happened to him.

"I talked to Owen," he said casually and finally turned his head to the side, looking at Cristina, waiting whether he would see any change in her facial expression. Something that would tell him whether this Owen guy was telling the truth.

"So?" Cristina asked, not understanding what Owen had to do with Jackson's sudden change of mood.

"He said that... That you two have some sort of... history," he said the last word like it caused his mouth to taste foul. For his surprise Cristina started to laugh, making his heart hurt some more.

"I wouldn't call it a history," she said, rolling her eyes. "We went on a date once. Big deal." Cristina didn't understand why was Jackson making such a fuss because of one date. Especially since it happened before they met. She had no intention in dating Owen. Not before she started dating Jackson and definitely not now. But the look in his eyes made her think, that there was something he wasn't telling her.

"I heard a different version." There was a lot of bitterness in Jackson's voice and he had to take a deep breath before he was able to continue. He still didn't know what to think. Cristina acted like she had no idea what he was talking about, but maybe she just tried to hide the truth. He couldn't know for sure. "He told me you were dating us both at once. That he broke up with you when he found out about that and felt betrayed," he continued, getting angrier with every word that he let out. It sounded much worse than it did in his head. "And honestly, I can totally understand him. Because doing something like this... It's disgusting." He looked at Cristina, hoping that she would tell him it wasn't true and that Owen just made it up, but she sat there in complete silence, starring in front of her. That hurt Jackson even more. He hoped she would stop him and tell him it wasn't true, but she didn't.

After what Jackson said, Cristina wasn't able to say a word. She was stuck between shock and anger. How could Owen say something like this? How could he lie about that? Was it some kind of revenge because she turned him down? And why did Jackson believe him? She was asking herself question after question, not being able to answer to any of them. "You really think I would be able to do that?" she asked, finally looking back at Jackson. She felt tears of anger and disappointment building up in the back of her eyes, but she managed to push them away. There was no space for that. "That I would play with you two like you were dolls? Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

This time Jackson was the one who didn't say anything. Maybe he really should've weighed his words before accusing Cristina from something like that. But now it was too late for that. He couldn't take back what he said. He could only try to fix it.

"I think I should go," Cristina said, taking Jackson's silence as an agreement and got out of the car, walking towards the building where she lived. A few tears already escaped her eyes and she didn't want Jackson to see that. Especially not after what just happened between them.

"Cristina, wait!" Jackson yelled, immediately getting out of the car and following her. "Talk to me," he said, grabbing her hand to stop her from walking away.

"There is nothing to talk about, Jackson. You don't believe me. You let someone you don't even know to tell you that I betrayed you and you believed it." Huge tears were running down her face now and she didn't even care if Jackson saw them anymore. Just a few hours ago she was so sure about their relationship and suddenly it was falling apart in front of her eyes. "I would never do that and I thought you knew it." She turned her face away from Jackson, not being able to look at him right now.

"I'm really sorry Cristina. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions without asking you. I'm a moron." He nervously run his hand through his short hair, while not loosening the grip on Cristina's wrist. He knew that he screwed up. But Owen's words upset him so much, that he wasn't able to think clearly. "I should have never doubted you. I know that now. But what he said... He suddenly made me so insecure and I became worried that the only woman that I have ever loved could actually do something like that to me. Can you forgive me for that?"

Cristina's mouth dropped open and she froze for a second after hearing what Jackson just said. "Wha- What did you say?" she asked, her voice trembling a little, not being sure if she heard him correctly.

"I asked if you could forgive me for that," he repeated his last sentence, but Cristina just shook her head and he took it as a bad sign.

"No, you said that I'm the only woman that you love," Cristina said in a slightly softer tone whilst biting her lower lip. She definitely didn't expect something like that from Jackson, particularly now.

"Oh," it was just then when Jackson realized what he let slip out in the heat of the moment. He realized that his feelings for Cristina were something much stronger than just sexual attraction a few days ago, but there wasn't a right occasion to tell her that. He also thought it was probably too early for something like that. Ironically, when he finally managed to say that, it was in the worst and least romantic moment he could imagine. "It's true, Cristina. I love you. But I think it doesn't matter now. I disappointed you and apparently you don't want me anymore." Jackson finally let go off her hand and turned around to leave. He wasn't sure if he was angrier at himself for not trusting Cristina or at Owen for jeopardizing his relationship. Either way it would probably be the best if he just went home and tried to sleep it off.

Cristina still stood there in shock, trying to absorb everything that Jackson said. He was right. He disappointed her. And hurt her. But she didn't want it to end like this. Cristina didn't want their relationship to end at all. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, knowing it would be now or never. "I love you too," she managed to say, trying to stop herself from crying for at least a moment. When Jackson heard Cristina's words, he turned back to her, waiting what was about to happen. If it was up to him, he would just take her to his arms and kissed her so badly that her knees would shake. But the expression on her face was still really angry so he decided that not doing anything would be better. "Aren't you gonna say anything?" Cristina asked impatiently. After what she has just said she expected many different kinds of reactions, but silent staring wasn't one of them.

"Aren't you mad anymore?" Jackson asked a little hesitantly.

"Of course I'm mad," she snapped angrily. "At you for doubting me and at that bastard who lied to you, trying to break us apart. Even at myself for going on that stupid date with him. But I'm not gonna give up on us because of one stupid fight, will you?"

"You're right. I won't," he said and confidently walked back towards Cristina, taking her face to his hands and pressing a long kiss on her lips. She wanted to pull away at first and tell him that one kiss wouldn't suddenly change everything, but when his soft lips brushed against hers, she couldn't stop herself from kissing him back.

"Don't ever doubt me again, okay?" Cristina said when they broke off the kiss and a small smile finally appeared on her face again.

"Okay," Jackson answered and then pulled her in for another kiss. He knew that he had to make it up to her somehow. Even if it would take thousands of kisses.


	9. Chapter 9

It was already Wednesday and Cristina hadn't talked to Owen since the birthday party. She was still mad at him for trying to sabotage her relationship with Jackson, by telling him that she was dating them both at the same time which wasn't true at all. She wanted to talk to him and give him a piece of her mind but suddenly he was nowhere to be found. She was deep in her thoughts, not even noticing that her lunch break had started about thirty minutes ago when suddenly there was a light knock on the door of her office.

"Can I come in?" the familiar voice asked and Cristina's face immediately lit up.

"Of course you can," she replied and turned her chair around so she was facing Jackson.

He closed the door behind him and walked towards Cristina with a smile on his face and gave her a light kiss. "I was heading to the grocery store and as I was driving by so I thought I would drop by and spend some time with you.

"Good idea." Cristina laughed and got up from her chair so she could kiss him back. "Very good idea."

"Have you talked to him?" Jackson asked and Cristina immediately knew that he was talking about Owen. After their fight and making up again, they talked about him and came to a conclusion, that Cristina should make it clear to Owen once again and tell him she had no interest in dating him. And of course that she didn't want him to try and ruin her relationship with Jackson. They both hoped it would be enough. However, Owen seemed to take a few days off, probably knowing that Cristina would be mad at him.

"Not yet. I haven't seen him since the party." She sighed. Cristina really wanted to have the conversation with him finally behind her, but as long as he was hiding from her, she couldn't do anything. "But once I meet him I'll kick his ass so hard that he won't be able to sit for a week," she said angrily, her thing eyebrows knitting together.

"Don't lower to his level. You're better than that." His fingers lightly stroked her cheek, the small smile still not leaving his lips, despite the fact that they were talking about Owen. Surprisingly, his anger towards him was slowly fading away. He wanted to beat him up himself at first, but then he realized that the trouble that Owen tried to cause between him and Cristina just nudged them closer together.

"I know. You're right," she agreed and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself a little. "I'm just still so mad."

"I know. I know." Jackson sighed, completely understanding Cristina's feelings. "But look at it this way. He tried to tear us apart, but he didn't. So nothing will," he said with a voice full of optimism and wrapped his arms around Cristina's waist, pulling her closer to him and softly kissing her again. "Just try to forget about him for a moment, okay?"

"Okay," Cristina whispered, trying to relax in Jackson's arms, while his lips traveled along her jaw line, sending some shivers down her spine. He knew it would take just a few kisses and she would completely forget about Owen.

"You didn't come yesterday," Jackson murmured between the kisses that he was placing on Cristina's neck. "I missed you."

"I got stuck here until late night," she said, letting out a small moan when he kissed the sensitive spot behind her ear. "But I was going to make it up to you tonight."

"Mmmm that sounds promising." He grinned as his hand wandered from the small of her back lower and lower until it reached her ass and he gave it a light squeeze, making her jump in surprise a little. "Maybe you could give me some sort of... sneak peek," Jackson suggested with a smirk.

"Wait... Like... Here?" Cristina looked at him with raised eyebrows. She already found out that Jackson was a very passionate lover, but the idea of having sex in her office coming out of his mouth surprised her.

"I assumed you can't leave your work just like that and..." he started to explain, but before he managed to finish the sentence, Cristina covered his mouth with hers and pushed him against the doors. "I'll take that as yes, then." He laughed when they pulled away for a second so he could lock the doors, before switching their positions and pressing Cristina against the hard wood.

"My lunch break ends in about half an hour," she said and quickly pulled his shirt over his head, not wasting a single second.

"That's a lot of time." Jackson grinned and pressed his lips against Cristina's again, parting them with his tongue and letting it slip in to explore her mouth. He could see the lust and excitement building in her soft brown eyes and decided to make this moment unforgettable.

He quickly started to unbutton her blouse and his lips moved lower, placing hot mouth opened kissed all over her chest and belly. Cristina moaned softly when he pushed away the fabric of her bra and took one of her nipples to his mouth swirling his tongue around it, while lightly squeezing the other one between his fingers. During the two months of their dating he already learned some of the spots to touch when he wanted to make her gasp. And this was one of them. Jackson slowly started to suck on the hardened nipple that was still in his mouth and Cristina dig her fingers into his bare shoulders, while trying to keep her groans silent. She didn't want to let him know what kind of power he had over her right now.

"Are just going to tease me?" she asked with a disappointment in her voice when Jackson suddenly straightened up again

"How did you guess?" Jackson laughed, kissing her again. Of course he loved teasing. The impatient look on Cristina's face when he touched her everywhere just not where she wanted him to was priceless.

"Well, so will I." She gave him a devilish grin before undoing his pants and slid her hand into his boxers, lightly stroking his length.

"Cr- Cristina..." he stuttered as her small hand slowly moved up and down, causing him to harden even more under her touch.

"Dearie?" she looked at him with an innocent face and quickly pulled out her hand from his pants, putting her index finger to her lips and lightly biting on it.

"Damn, Cristina! You're such a tease," he hissed and grabbed her legs, hooking them around his waist.

Cristina squealed in surprise when he lifted her and she wrapped her arms around his neck to secure herself. He lightly pulled her hair tie loosening her ponytail and letting her curls fall on her shoulders. "I love when you wear your hair loose. It's hot," he whispered and ran his fingers through her raven curls. He walked towards her desk and pushed some of the papers and photos to the side, before sitting her on it. Their lips were brushing together in deep and passionate kisses while they kept undressing each other until they were both left just in the underwear.

"Oh, nice," Jackson said with a grin when he took of her pants, revealing the black lace thong she was wearing.

Once he casually mentioned he liked when she was wearing lace and since then he barely saw her underwear in any other fabric. "Told you I was going to visit you tonight," Cristina replied, biting her lower lip and giving Jackson a seducing look.

"I can't wait," he said, smirking and gently pushed her down to the desk. He ran his hands up and down Cristina's skinny legs, making her shiver when he "accidentally" squeezed her ass in the process. "You're so, so hot," he murmured against her porcelain skin when he started to kiss her thighs, moving from her knee upwards.

"I know," she said and the last letter disappeared in a gasp when he placed another one of his kisses through her wet panties. Jackson just smirked at her response and continued doing the same on her other leg.

When he decided it was enough of the silent torturing, he started to move her panties down her legs, one inch at the time, watching Cristina getting more impatient with every second he wasn't touching her. When he finally threw away the tiny piece of lace he moved back to her face and lightly nuzzled her ear with his lips. "What do you want me to do?"

"Touch me," she replied immediately.

"Where?" Jackson asked, playing dumb. He exactly knew what Cristina wanted, but maybe the teasing wasn't over just as yet.

"Here!" Cristina grabbed his hand, placing it between her legs and pressing his palm against her clit. She started to raise her hips, slightly grinding against him, while letting out small groans of satisfaction. Jackson could feel how impatient she was getting, while his fingers lightly teased her wet entrance, casually slipping in and out every now and then.

"Shhh. You don't want anyone to hear us, do you?" Jackson asked with a smirk when Cristina let out another loud moan. The thrill of knowing that anyone could hear them was turning them on even more and it was really difficult to keep quiet.

"Shut up and make me come!" she hissed almost desperately and pulled Jackson's boxers down with one swift motion. She has been hanging over the edge since the first time he kissed her and she was not willing to wait any longer. She needed to feel him inside her. Right now.

Jackson recognized the look in her eyes immediately, the one that told him to do something quickly before she would take it into her own hands. Literally. He positioned himself above her and slowly entered her, still teasing her in the process. The feeling of her hot tight walls around him almost made him come right there and he gasped loudly.

"Any problems, Mr. Avery?" Cristina asked with a smirk as she saw Jackson struggling with himself and bit her lower lip, trying to fight the urge to moan as he entered her.

"Nope. Not at all." Jackson shook his head and took a deep breath. "It's just that you're too ridiculously hot." Cristina just smiled and pulled his face to hers again, kissing him deeply as he slowly started to build his pace. There was a moment of silence between them, only filled with their quiet moans, gasps and harsh pants.

"P-Please don't s-stop," Cristina pleaded, feeling that her climax was just seconds away and dug her nails deep into Jackson's shoulders.

Jackson obeyed her command, burying himself even deeper inside her, his fingers lightly squeezing her nipples what finally brought her over the top. Her breathing grew harsher and her legs she had still firmly wrapped around his waist started to tremble uncontrollably. The jolts of pleasure running through her body with each and every thrust of his hips against hers were getting more and more frequent until she couldn't hold back any longer and let out a loud scream of pleasure.

Jackson covered her mouth with his, muffling the sounds of her and his moans at the same time as they both came just a few seconds apart.

"Oh, God," Cristina whispered when she finally managed to catch her breath again. "That was… so good."

"Well that's an understatement." He laughed, breathing heavily as he came down from the high and helped her down from the desk.

"We'll need to repeat this sometime."

"I agree." Jackson smirked and pulled her closer to him, resting his forehead against hers. The sex itself was awesome, but it was those little moments afterward that he loved so much. Moments when he knew he could share anything with Cristina. "I love you," Jackson whispered against her lips and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"I love you too," she replied with a smile and lightly kissed him. It felt so good to say those words out loud. To actually have someone she could tell them to. And even though she was worried that something bad would happen and tear them apart, she decided to enjoy every single second they could spend together. Even if it was in her office. "But how do you expect me to get back to work after this? I can't take photos with shaky hands," she said with laugh and Jackson just shrugged his shoulder innocently.

"Well... I guess I didn't think of the consequences. You'll probably need to stay in the office for the rest of the day. But hopefully alone." Jackson smirked and winked at her.

"Actually, I have another horny client in a few minutes so you should go," she said jokingly and handed him his clothes, while laughing and searching for her own clothes that were thrown all over her office.

"Good that you reminded me. There is a bunch of naked models waiting for me in my apartment. I almost forgot about them." He grinned, playing along, while quickly putting on his clothes. The little stop in Cristina's office turned out to be a little longer and much more passionate then he planned.

Cristina just rolled her eyes, buttoning up her blouse and making sure there were no noticeable signs of the hot sex she has just had. She really didn't need any of her colleagues finding out and teasing her about that.

"So see you in the evening?" Jackson asked between the doors as Cristina led him out of her office. She didn't want him to go, but her lunch break was almost over and she had to come back to work. Even though she knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate. "I'm making dinner."

"Sure." Cristina nodded with a smile, before standing on the tip of her toes to give Jackson a kiss. "Bye." She gave him a slight wave and watched him disappear behind the corner, before coming back to her office. Just as she was about to close the door again, she heard a husky voice calling out her name.

"Cristina, can you come in to my office for a minute?" Owen asked, poking his head from the door.

"Yeah, I'll be right there."

"You want to talk to me?" Cristina asked casually, when she entered Owen's office. Even though she told herself that the next time she would see Owen she wouldn't bother talking to him and just kick his ass, the afterglow of the amazing sex she had just a few minutes ago made her a little bit more merciful towards him. Maybe they could act like adults and maybe he could explain why he did what he did. Well, maybe.

"Yeah, take a seat," Owen said with a cold tone in his voice and pointed to the chair in front of his desk.

"Okay, I'm listening."

Owen cleared his throat, rethinking his words one more time. "I don't like saying this, but I have some serious concerns about your ability to work here lately," he started, looking everywhere but in Cristina's eyes.

"Excuse me?" she interrupted him right after his first sentence, not understanding what he was trying to say.

"Let me finish!" he stopped her and continued. "You were always one of our best employees. Focused, punctual and hard-working. But something changed. You come to work late, you leave early and you always leave all of your work to the day before the deadline. I can't accept that."

"Do I have everything finished on time or not?" Cristina interrupted him again, this time a little angrier than before. What was he trying to say? That she was not doing her job like she was supposed to? Just because a few months ago she was spending more time at work than it was necessary it didn't mean that she had to keep doing that or did it?

"You do, but…"

"Then what is the problem?" she threw her hands in the air. The good mood she came to his office with was already gone and the anger she'd been holding in herself since Saturday evening was slowly getting out again.

"I think the fame has gone to someone's head. The fact that you are a big photographer now doesn't mean you're something more than anyone in this magazine," he burst out, knowing that once he said these words, there was no coming back. He was aware of Cristina's cold attitude towards him so he had nothing to lose.

Cristina just gasped as she heard those words leave Owen's mouth. He couldn't be serious, could he? Accusing her of thinking that she was something more than anyone else. "You know what I think?" Cristina asked her voice rising as the anger grew bigger inside her. "I think you're jealous. You wanted to date me and I turned you down. You were barely speaking to me since then. Avoided me. And when I found an amazing guy and started to date him, you suddenly appeared, trying to ruin that relationship! And now you're trying to ruin my job for me too?" She was now yelling at him, but she didn't care. She had to get it all out and didn't care if anyone else could hear them.

"Don't try to make it personal."

"Me making it personal?" she scoffed, rolling her eyes. Cristina couldn't believe she was having this conversation with Owen. She always thought he was a good guy. She had never had problems with him. Until now. "You tried to chase away my boyfriend and when you found out it didn't work you decided to pull out some crap about me not doing my job properly. If this is not personal, then I don't know what is."

"Don't talk to me like this!" He shouted angrily and stood up from his chair.

"Or what?" she snapped, already having enough of Owen's childish behavior. She couldn't believe that just a few weeks ago she even considered dating him.

"Or I will get you fired."

Cristina clenched her teeth, taking all of her willpower to not just jump at Owen and strangle him right there in his office. "That's not going to happen," she said, trying to sound as confident as possible and left the office, slamming the door behind her. But the truth was that she wasn't confident at all.

Jackson was standing in his kitchen, humming something while finishing the dinner. He was glad that he could finally use his cooking skills and cook for someone else than himself. As he took out two plates from the kitchen cabinet, there was a knock on the door and his face immediately lit up. He took off his apron hanging it on the nearest chair and walked to the door.

"Hey," Cristina said quietly and tried to smile a little, even though she wasn't in the mood for it at all.

"Hey," he greeted her with a light kiss on the lips. "I'm just finishing the dinner. Spaghetti Bolognese with a hint of garlic in it. You're going to love it," Jackson said proudly and moved back to his little kitchen, pulling out the rest of the dishes and putting them on the dinner table. "Something wrong?" he asked with worry, when he noticed the gloom expression on Cristina face. "Don't you like garlic?"

"It's not about the dinner," she said, shaking her head and crushed onto Jackson's couch with a loud sigh.

"Then what is it?" Jackson walked back to the living room and sat on the couch next to Cristina.

"I talked to Owen," she replied shortly and bit her lower lip, replaying their whole conversation in her head once again.

"And? What happened?" he prompted her a little impatiently. Even though he tried to pretend that he put the problems Owen caused between them behind him, he still wanted to break his face anytime he heard his name. And the expression on his girlfriend's face wasn't saying anything good.

"You know what happened? That he is an ungrateful son of a bitch. That's what happened."

Jackson raised his eyebrows, not used to such a language coming out of Cristina's mouth. "Hey, hey. Take a deep breath and tell me exactly what he did."

"Okay," Cristina whispered and took a deep breath just like Jackson told her to, trying to calm herself a little. "After you left he called me to his office. I thought I would finally get the chance to confront him about what happened at the party. But instead of that he started telling me that I'm not doing my job as I used to. That I think I'm something more than others," she started to explain and the anger started to grow in her again. "Then we started to fight because I was really mad at him for what he said at the party and he told me he'll get met fired."

"But I thought he's just a chief of editor," Jackson interrupted her, not understanding the situation.

"He also owns about twenty percent of the magazine so he's probably a bit more powerful than that."

"Oh," Jackson sighed, trying to think of some words of comfort. He could see that this situation really bothered Cristina and he was afraid that he was one of the reasons why Owen was acting like this.

"What if he really gets me fired? I need this job." Cristina looked up, searching for some sort of comfort in Jackson's eyes. She began to be really worried about her job in the magazine.

"He won't," Jackson said and took Cristina's hand into his, giving her a tight reassuring squeeze. "He can't fire you because he's jealous and you yelled at him. As long as you follow directions and office policy he has no legal right to even threaten you like this. And if he does we'll find a reason to sue him," he added with a smirk and lightly stroked Cristina's cheek. "He'll regret he ever talked to you."

"It's so hot when you talk like a lawyer." Cristina giggled, pressing a soft kiss on Jackson's lips. She knew Jackson was right. Owen couldn't get her fired just like that. She just needed to do her job as usually and not give him any reason to doubt her.

"According to paragraph 42 of section B it's time for dinner," Jackson said in a professional lawyer tone and kissed Cristina, glad that he made her feel a little bit better.

"That's so sexy."

"Maybe the years of law school weren't so useless after all." He laughed and helped Cristina get up from the couch. "I can give you some more lawyer talk after dinner. But we need to eat now before it gets cold."

"I'm looking forward that."


	10. Chapter 10

"What are you doing here Montgomery? Did you push the wrong button in the elevator? Because if I remember correctly, your magazine is a few floors below," Cristina said bitterly, when she saw Addison Montgomery walking down the hall. She'd been a chief of F&M magazine and the biggest enemy of Seattle's Metropolitan for as long as Cristina could remember.

"Hello to you too Cristina. Why so bitter?" She asked with a fake sweetness in her voice and flipped her red hair over her shoulder.

"Answer the question!" Cristina snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I didn't come to see you so I think it's none of your business." The sweet tone of Addison's voice suddenly disappeared,

Cristina knew that Addison wanted to get rid of her as quickly as possible, but she wouldn't give up so easily. She wanted to know why was one of their biggest enemies wandering around the hall of their magazine. "You've been trying to ruin our magazine for three years. So it is my business. Why are you here?"

"No need to get so upset. I'm here for a friendly visit."

"A friendly visit?" Cristina chuckled. She had no idea who would be interested in talking to Addison. Especially in a friendly kind of way.

"Don't look at me like that. It was not my idea. Owen called me here." She said, finally explaining the reason of her visit.

"What does he want?" Cristina kept asking questions, even though she knew Addison wouldn't answer them honestly.

"I'd like to know that too. So if you excuse me, I'm going to go and find him." She shot Cristina one last fake smile before walking away, leaving the tapping sound of her heels echoing behind her.

"What do you think they're doing there for so long?" Meredith asked, sipping from her coffee, while she, Cristina, Lexie and Izzie sat in the kitchen and stared at the door of Owen's office. It'd been more than half an hour since Addison entered and they still had no idea what was going on inside.

"I don't know. Plotting how to murder us all so they can run the magazine together?" Cristina suggested, shrugging her shoulders and pretended it didn't bother her.

"Having hot office sex," Izzie said with a smirk on her lips.

"Montgomery and Hunt? Eww." The rest of them scrunched their faces in disgust.

"So what? Even they're just people."

"What are you staring at?" Alex asked as he entered the kitchen and saw his female colleagues intensely looking out through the glass wall, as if waiting for something.

"Not what, but who," Cristina answered, her eyes still glued to the door of Owen's office.

"Montgomery," Meredith explained.

"She's hot. Can I join?" Alex grinned, taking some grape from the table and popping it to his mouth, before sitting on one of the chairs next to his colleagues.

"Alex!" Izzie exclaimed, punching him to the shoulder, clearly pissed at her boyfriend that he was talking about Addison like that. Especially since she was their enemy.

Alex didn't say anything, just pressed a little kiss to Izzie's cheek, hoping it would make her anger go away. And it did. "So will anybody tell me why are we're spying on her?"

"She's been at Owen's office for more than half an hour now and we're trying to figure out what she's doing there," Lexie said, already bored from the never ending waiting.

"I'd say they're having sex," Alex chuckled, throwing another grape to his mouth.

"That's what I said!" Izzie exclaimed happily, because finally someone shared her idea. No matter how weird or disgusting it seemed to others, she could totally imagine Owen and Addison getting together.

"We already think the same." Alex smiled and pulled Izzie in for a kiss.

"Hey! Look! She's coming out," Cristina shouted to stop Alex and Izzie from kissing and pull their focus back on what they were waiting for.

As Addison walked out of Owen's office she had a conniving smile on her face and knowing that the other people from the magazine were probably watching her, she turned around to them, giving them a slight wave with her hand before walking away. And all they could do was keep speculating about what had just happened.

"I can't paint you if you keep moving." Jackson sighed after a while of futile trying to paint Cristina who couldn't sit still for more than a few minutes.

"But this chair is so uncomfortable," Cristina complained as she tried to find the most comfortable position to sit in. When Jackson told her he would like to paint her, she couldn't be more excited about it. But as she soon found out, being painted wasn't so easy. She had to sit without moving for hours and it wasn't fun at all. "Do all the models you paint sit on this horrible chair?"

"Only guys. Women are lying nakedon a bed of rose petals," Jackson answered with a grin, which earned him an angry glare from Cristina. "Just kidding. Rose petals are too cheesy. I prefer tulips," he kept mocking her.

"Do you want me to go away?" Cristina asked angrily, crossing her arms over her chest. She really wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"Relax, Cristina. I was just messing with you. You're too tensed up today. Did something happen?" Jackson asked with concern, not understanding what happened to Cristina. Usually they kept making fun of each other and then laughed about it, but today apparently wasn't day for jokes.

"Addison happened," she answered with a frown.

"Who?" Jackson furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember if Cristina ever mentioned this name before.

"Addison Montgomery. She's the owner of a rival magazine and she's been trying to ruin us for as long as I can remember," she tried to explain, throwing her hands in the air. "I ran into her at work today. She had some sort of super secret meeting with Owen or something like that."

"And you're afraid they're plotting something," Jackson said, finally understanding what made Cristina so furious.

"Exactly!"

Jackson sighed, knowing that while Cristina was upset she wouldn't be able to sit still and he couldn't paint her. So he put down his brush and walked over to her, standing behind her. "I know it sucks, but you can't do anything about it. Especially when you don't know what is really happening," he said in a calm voice and slowly started to rub her stiff shoulders. "Maybe their meeting had nothing to do with work. Maybe there is nothing to be worried about."

"But they're…" Cristina tried to protest, but lost the track of her words when she felt Jackson's lips on her neck, kissing their way up to her jaw.

"Just relax and forget about work," he whispered against her skin, making her shiver when he placed his lips behind her ear.

"Okay." Cristina let out a small sigh between kisses, completely forgetting about Addison and Owen. At least for now.

"Hey, guys," Jackson said with a big smile on his lips when he walked to the kitchen at Cristina's work. As usuall they were supposed to get lunch together and today Jackson brought his favorite food – fried chicken and rice. However the smile from his face quickly disappeared when he noticed how sad and dull everyone looked. "Did something happen?" he asked with a worry in his voice.

"Addison," Lexie said and scrunched her face.

"And Owen," Meredith added.

"I don't understand." Jackson shook his head and looked at Cristina, hoping she would explain what was going on. Because so far he didn't understand anything.

"Owen wants to sell his part of the company," Cristina explained shortly. "To Addison."

"Oh," Jackson let out a small sigh when he finally understood what made everyone so pissed. Even though he didn't know Addison, from what Cristina told him about her, he knew that the possibility of her buying Owen's part of the magazine wasn't a good thing at all.

"She will ruin us," Cristina said with her head in her hands, still trying to figure out what made Owen leave all of sudden. A small voice inside her head was telling her, that she was at least partially responsible for it.

"She can't ruin us. She would have what? Twenty percent? She can't do much with it." Izzie tried to stay positive, but she knew it wouldn't be easy. There was a reason why the called Addison satan. And it certainly wasn't because of her red hair.

"It's Addison. If she has any say in this magazine, we're screwed." Cristina pressed her lips together, still thinking whether her fight with Owen from the few days ago triggered all of this.

"If only someone else could buy it," Lexie murmured with her head still lying on the table. She was usually able to find solution for any problem, but this probably wasn't something she could solve with her photographic memory and knowledge from books.

"But who?" Meredith asked. "I don't know anyone who has million dollars to buy Owen's part."

"Maybe I could buy it," Jackson said all of sudden and all the eyes in the room were immediately on him.

"What?" Cristina as the first one to speak, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "But… where would you get that kind of money?"

"Well…" he started hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck. He knew that this thing would eventually come out and now was apparently the time. "There is something I haven't told you about."

"Please tell me you're not a thief or that you don't have a really rich wife you forgot to tell me about. I had enough of bad surprises for one day."

"Of course not! Nothing like that." He laughed a little and slid to the chair opposite Cristina. "You know when I told my parents are successful lawyers?" Jackson asked and Cristina nodded. "Well they're more than that. They actually own a big law firm in New York."

"Oh," was all that left Cristina's lips as she waited for Jackson to get to the point.

"And as their only child I have something like a trust fund."

"A trust fund," Cristina repeated, taking a deep breath. In her head the word trust fund always associated with those really rich kids you could see in reality shows. The ones that made a big party for their sixteenth birthday, where they invited the whole town and the most popular and expensive singers.

"I think we should go," Meredith said, getting up from her chair when she noticed that the conversation between Cristina and Jackson was getting more private and Lexie did the same.

"But I…" Izzie tried to protest, wanting to know what was going to happen next, but Meredith was already gripping her arm and pulling her out of the kitchen.

"So… How much?" Cristina asked hesitantly. She knew that no matter how much money Jackson had, it wouldn't change their relationship, but suddenly finding out that her boyfriend was a millionaire was a shock for her.

"Fifteen," he whispered with his eyes glued to the table, as if it was a bad thing. Jackson didn't like talking about money. It made him feel that if people knew that he was rich, they would look at him differently. And the look in Cristina's eyes when he told her about the trust fund and it wasn't saying anything good.

"And you want to buy part of this magazine because…"

"Because it's a good thing to do and it could actually help you all and…" he started to name all the possible reasons that came to his mind, but Cristina stopped him. She knew why he really wanted to do it, but she needed to hear it from him.

"And the real reason?"

"Because I love you and I want you to be happy." He finally looked up and then took her hands into his.

"Jackson… I love you too. You know that. But this… You can't spend million dollars just to make me happy. That's… That's ridiculous." She shook her head, still not believing what was happening in front of her eyes. She couldn't let Jackson spend so much money because he loved her, could she?

"But why? Lexie said you needed someone to buy it. And I thought…" His words got lost in his throat. He didn't really know what he thought. He just wanted to solve the problem that was bothering them all. Maybe he really should've thought that through before letting the words slip out.

"I know. You're trying to help and you want me to be happy, but why don't you think about yourself for a moment? What if it doesn't work out? What if you lose your money or what if we break up? You will regret it." For an unknown reason there was panic building inside Cristina all she could think about were reasons why Jackson shouldn't do it.

Jackson knew that Cristina could be right. That maybe he would regret this decision later. But right now he didn't care. He was decided to risk it. "We are not gonna break up. And I'm not gonna lose my money. You just need to trust me." He gave her hands a tight reassuring squeeze, but she still didn't look convinced.

Cristina let out a loud sigh, knowing that if Jackson was at least half as stubborn as she was he wouldn't change his mind. "If this doesn't work out…"

"It will," Jackson stopped her sooner than she was able to voice some more doubts about his idea. "It will work," he repeated one more time and leaned over the table to kiss her, hoping he was right.

The same day they decided to spend evening in Cristina's apartment. They were sitting on the couch together, watching TV, but neither of them were able to focus. While Jackson was thinking about everything he needed to do to be able buy Owen's part of the company and become an official co-owner of the magazine, Cristina kept wondering how this would change her relationship with Jackson. Even though he tried to reassure her that everything would stay the same, Cristina wasn't so sure. But she tried to not worry her boyfriend with unnecessary things, but the more she was thinking about it, the more she felt like they had to talk.

"So umm, about the trust fund thing," she started a little hesitantly, not knowing where to begin. There were too many things running through her mind and she still wasn't sure whether she wanted to bring the topic of Jackson being rich up or whether she wanted to pretend she didn't know.

Jackson knew that Cristina wouldn't remain quiet about this topic for much longer and was ready to answer any kind of question she had for him. He really didn't want the events of the day to affect their relationship and he would do anything to prove Cristina that nothing had to change. "Ask me anything."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asked, turning around so she was looking into his eyes, impatiently waiting for an answer.

"I don't know. I guess there just wasn't the right time." Jackson shrugged, not knowing how to answer. "Besides it's not a big deal."

"Yes, it is!" Cristina exclaimed a little louder than she wanted. "My parents had to save every cent to be able to put me through college. I had to work my ass off to be able to pay bills at first. And I thought you were the same. But now… I feel like I'm something less. I fell like… like a gold digger," she added the last few words in a whisper, lowering her head in embarrassment. She knew she couldn't blame Jackson for coming from a rich family, but she also couldn't fight the feeling of being something less.

"Oh, Cristina, don't say that. The fact that I happen to have a rich family doesn't make you anything less than me," he said, his fingers softly stroking Cristina's cheek. Jackson expected her to say a lot of things, but this definitely wasn't one of them. And even though it wasn't his fault, he felt guilty for making Cristina feel like this. "You're much more than me," he added in a whisper, resting his forehead against her while one of his hands was still placed on the side of Cristina's face and the other one was wrapped around her tiny waist.

They remained quiet for a while, just looking into each other's eyes as if trying to reassure themselves that everything was going to be okay.

"What you said about illustrating books to get this apartment. Was that a lie?" Cristina broke the silence with another question that had been bugging her the whole evening.

"Everything I told is truth. I wanted to prove myself I can make it without those money. I still want to prove it. So no, I've never used the money."

Cristina had to admit she was a little surprised. She already knew that Jackson wasn't the type of person who spent all his money on fancy and unnecessary things, but she kind of expected him to use them as a start to his career of a painter. "So you were never even planning to use them on anything?"

"I'm saving them for future. If something happens. If I ever have a family…" Jackson tried to explain as he felt Cristina stiffen in his arms when he started to speak about family. Even though they weren't so far in their relationship and they never talked about the possibility of getting married or having kids, Jackson slowly started to realize, that one day he'd love to start a family with Cristina. "Or we will just use them to pay for the best nursing home we will grow old in," he added with a small smirk on his lips, trying to lighten the situation.

"We?" Cristina cocked her eyebrows, surprised that Jackson was already thinking about them growing old together. She has never been thinking too far ahead, but she had to admit she could imagine spending the rest of her life with Jackson. No matter how crazy it could sound after a few weeks of dating.

"There is no way you'd get rid of me," Jackson said with a grin and pressed a soft kiss to Cristina's lips, making her giggle a little.

Maybe the money really wouldn't change anything. Cristina thought and snuggled closer to her boyfriend.


	11. Chapter 11

**Title** : Captured  
 **Author** : **Pairing** : Cristina/Jackson  
 **Rating** : T  
 **Summary** : AU - Cristina Yang is a young, talented and ambitious photographer who seems to have everything going for her. But there’s something missing, that special someone to share it with. At her first photography exhibition a handsome artist captures her attention, but is he the one she’s been looking for…?  
 **Disclaimer** : All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.  
 **Author's note** : I'm really really sorry for letting you all wait for so long. My beta was busy with real life stuff so she didn't have time to correct my chapters, but my wonderful friend helped me out so you can finally find out what happens next.

 

Jackson was standing in the hallway of Seattle's Metropolitan magazine waiting for his girlfriend. After the hectic week behind him, Jackson was glad he finally had more time to spend it with her. Derek managed to persuade Owen to not sell his part of the company to Addison so Jackson spent a lot of time signing papers and learning everything he needed to know about becoming a co-owner of the magazine. There was far more work involved than he expected, but he felt good about it. Cristina and her friends no longer needed to worry about losing their jobs and Jackson was happy he could finally use some of the money from his trust fund to do the right thing. As he waited for Cristina, he saw a few guys moving some stuff to Owen's old office. Apparently the new chief of editor that Derek hired was already moving in and things in the magazine were getting back to normal.

Suddenly he heard an oddly familiar voice calling his name: "Jackson Avery!" a redhead exclaimed when she spotted Jackson, standing on the side of the hallway. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you since college."

Jackson's eyes widened when he turned around to make sure he recognized the voice correctly. "April! Oh, my God." He greeted his former classmate and best friend from college with a tight hug. "My girlfriend works here, so I'm waiting for her," he explained, as they pulled away from each other. "And I also kind of a co-owner here now," he said as a matter of fact and shrugged his shoulders. He still couldn't get used to the fact, that he was now one of the owners of the magazine. "But that's not important now. What are you doing here? I thought you moved to New York?" Jackson asked, still not believing how small the world was.

The huge smile from April's face quickly disappeared, when Jackson told her he had a girlfriend. She never told him that, because they were best friends and she was afraid she would ruin their relationship, but she had always had a big crush on him. "I was there, but then I decided to change my life a little and move somewhere else. So now I'm the new chief of editor here," she said, trying not to look disappointed. "But you're a co-owner here? How did that happen? I thought you wanted to be a painter."

"That's a long story." Jackson laughed. "But I guess we will be seeing each other more often now, so I'm sure I'll have the opportunity to tell you everything."

April was just about to ask him a dozen of other questions, when she noticed he was no longer paying attention to her and instead of that he was looking behind her with a silly smile on his lips and dreamy look on his face. It didn't take too long for her to realize, that the woman walking towards them was Jackson's girlfriend.

"Hey," Cristina greeted him with a kiss. "Are you ready to go?"

"Actually, I'd like to introduce someone to you first," Jackson said and put his hand on April's back. "Cristina, this is April. My best friend from college. She's the new chief of editor that Derek hired. April, this is my girlfriend Cristina. She works as a photographer here," Jackson quickly introduced them and the women politely shook their hands.

"Nice to meet you. I hope your personal life won't affect your work. We'd like to avoid that this time." Cristina grinned and Jackson laughed.

"I uh..." April squinted her eyes, not understanding what was Cristina talking about.

"That's why the previous chief of editor left," Jackson explained. "His personal problems affected his work too much." He looked at the ground, because he still felt partially guilty for what happened.

"Oh, I understand now." April nodded her head. "I can promise you I will try not to mix my personal life with work."

"Good," Cristina said and there was a moment of awkward silence between the three of them. "So I guess we should get going because I still have a lot of work ahead of me today."

"Yeah, I guess we should." Jackson nodded, when suddenly an idea hit him. "April, don't you want to come with us too?" he asked and Cristina gave him a surprised look.

"I... I don't know. I don't want to interrupt your lunch," April said. She definitely wanted to spend more time with Jackson and catch up on all the things that happened to him during the past few years, but he wasn't sure that a lunch with him and his girlfriend was the best opportunity to do that.

"Oh, c'mon. It will be fun. We have so many things to talk about. And Cristina doesn't mind, right?" he asked, looking at Cristina, hoping she would agree.

"Well..." Cristina wasn't really happy about the idea of sharing a lunch with someone who was still a complete stranger for her. Especially since she and Jackson barely had time for each other the past few days and she thought the lunch would be a great time to make up for that. She was just about to say that it may not be the best idea, but when she saw Jackson's puppy eyes looking at her, pleading her to agree, she couldn't say no. "I guess that would be a great idea," she said, forcing a fake smile on her lips. She hated when Jackson did this. When he looked at her with his big blue-green eyes, making her weak in her knees. When he looked at her that way she would do anything he wanted.

"Great." Jackson smiled. "Let's go then."

The restaurant that Cristina and Jackson were planning to visit was just across the street, but even though the walk there only took a couple of minutes, Cristina was already annoyed by April. She couldn't say what exactly she minded about her, but she knew they most likely wouldn't become friends. Maybe it was because of her weird high pitched voice or maybe because she just talked too much. But the fact that Jackson was now paying all of his attention to her instead of Cristina wasn't making it any better.

When they finally arrived to the restaurant and a waitress brought them food, Cristina was hoping it would keep April quiet for a while. And even though it did, it didn't last too long. "So do you still play basketball, Jackson?" April asked and Cristina raised her eyebrows, not knowing that Jackson used to play basketball. Actually, she didn't know that much about his past. He said it wasn't interesting and she wasn't the type of person who liked to talk about her past too much either. But as she listened to the conversation between April and Jackson, she began to realize there were many little things she didn't know about him.

"No, not anymore," Jackson answered, shaking his head. "I'm trying to fully focus on painting now. And well… on Cristina," he said with a grin as he took another bite of his food and Cristina forced a smile on her lips.

But she wasn't the only one who was faking a smile. April was glad she was able to talk to Jackson again, but at the same time it felt completely different than it used to be. She knew it had been a long time and that it was pathetic to think that after all those years there could be something going on between the two of them, but she felt jealous when she saw how he kissed Cristina and how his face immediately lit up when he saw her. For years she wanted him to look at her that way. To kiss her, hold her hand in public. But she was too scared to tell him. And now it was too late.

"You don't like April, do you?" Jackson asked casually as he prepared dinner for him and Cristina. Since their lunch plans were interrupted by his reunion with his former best friend, what made him almost ignore Cristina the whole time, he felt like he owed her an apology. And preparing food just for the two of them seemed like the best way to do it.

"I never said that." Cristina shook her head, not wanting Jackson to know what she thought about April. She wouldn't say it at loud, but she had to admit she felt a little jealous. Actually very jealous. She was really looking forward a calm lunch with Jackson when they could enjoy some alone time after the hectic week behind them. But instead of that she had to watch an unknown redhead touching her boyfriend every five seconds and giggling at his jokes like a thirteen year old. From the very first moment she could feel she wouldn't like her, but Jackson said she was his friend, so Cristina tried to stay polite. Even though it was harder than she thought.

"You didn't have to say anything. I could see it from the look on your face," he said, as he continued to chop the vegetables. He didn't say anything during the lunch, but it didn't mean he didn't notice that there was something bothering Cristina. She barely said anything and just listened to his conversation with April, not looking very happy about the fact that a female friend he hadn't talked to for a few years suddenly appeared in his life again. Jackson understood why she didn't like the sudden change of plans, but he felt like there was something more. And he wanted to know what it was.

"She's your friend. You like her. I shouldn't be telling you this." Cristina still tried to keep her thoughts about April to herself, but it wasn't easy.

"Just tell me. What is it?" Jackson asked curiously. He knew that April wasn't really popular and that people always found something to hate about her but he never saw it.

"She's… annoying. Very annoying."

"What?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "She's not annoying."

"See? This is why I didn't want to tell you. You two have been friends for years so you don't see it. And I don't want to ruin it for you. So just drop it," Cristina said, not wanting to talk about April anymore. It was enough that she interrupted their lunch so they didn't need to talk about her during dinner too.

Jackson sighed. "Okay. Whatever. But maybe you should give her a chance. "

"Do I have to?" Cristina asked, not very excited about the idea.

"Please. At least try."

They were both quiet for a moment as Jackson continued to prepare the dinner while Cristina was reading some sort of magazine about art that Jackson had in his apartment. But even though she was trying to focus on the text, she couldn't stop thinking about the lunch and the way April acted towards Jackson. They seemed quiet close. Too close to her liking. "So what's your story with her?" she asked all of sudden when she was no longer able to pretend she was reading the magazine. Even though she was the one who wanted to drop the topic about April, she couldn't stop herself from asking more questions.

"Who?" Jackson asked, pretending he didn't know what Cristina was talking about. He could feel a little bit of jealousy in her voice, but decided to ignore it. He was probably just making it up in his head because there was no reason to be jealous.

"April. Who else?" Cristina rolled her eyes, knowing Jackson was just playing dumb.

"There is no story with her. We went to college together. She was kind of a loner at first, but then we became friends. After college I stayed here and she moved to New York and I haven't seen her until today. The end."

"So you were just friends. Hmmm…" Cristina twisted her lips to the side as she thought about the lunch and how April acted. Because it definitely looked like she didn't want to be just Jackson's friend.

"What do you mean by hmmm?" Jackson raised his eyebrows not understanding what was Cristina trying to tell him.

"It's just that she acted like a love struck teenager around you today. She couldn't keep your eyes of you, laughed at jokes that weren't even funny…"

"Or maybe you're just jealous and making this up in your head." Jackson shook his head, not wanting to admit that Cristina could be right. April was just being friendly, right? There was no way there would be something more behind it. "Besides, my jokes are funny," he said, feeling offended. "Well, some of them," he added when Cristina gave him an unamused look. "The point is there is nothing going on between us. There never was and never will be. I have you. And that's all I need." He smiled as he walked over to Cristina and pulled her closer to him, staring into her chocolate brown eyes, knowing that he could do it for the rest of his life.

"You're so cheesy." She giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"But you love me anyway," he said with a grin and kissed her. There was nothing that could pull them apart. Especially not April. At least that's what he thought.

 


	12. Chapter 12

"Okay, I'll see you during lunch," Jackson said and gave Cristina a light kiss on the lips before she walked towards her office and he headed to see Derek to talk to him about some changes they were planning to make in the magazine.

"Good morning Jackson. Seeing Cristina off to work?" April asked when she noticed her friend in the hallway. It was hard for her to see him here with his girlfriend every day, but she hoped that eventually she would get used to it and her heart would accept that pining for him was pointless.

"Good morning." Jackson greeted her with smile. "Yes, but I'm also meeting with Shepherd to talk about some changes in the magazine."

"I hope you're not planning to change the chief of editor. I'm starting to like it here." She laughed.

"I wouldn't worry about that. From what I've heard you're doing great so far." A wide smile appeared on Jackson's face. He was glad his friend liked her new job and that they found a new chief of editor that could possibly stay in the magazine for a few years.

"Thank you," April whispered, blushing a little and hoping Jackson didn't notice it. "Anyway," she said after a while of awkward silence. "My new apartment is finally finished so I was thinking… Would you and Cristina like to come over for a dinner tonight? We could finally catch up on things. And it could be fun. But of course you don't need to feel obliged to come. I just bought a lot of groceries and then realized I don't have anybody to share them with so I thought that making a nice dinner for the three of us would be a good idea," she kept rambling, unable to stop. She had always been a little nervous and awkward around Jackson, even though they were friends, but apparently not seeing him for a few years made things even worse.

"I..." Jackson hesitated for a second. He really wanted to catch up on things with April, but he also knew that Cristina found her quite annoying so spending the whole evening with April would be a torture for her. But she was trying to accept her because she was Jackson's friend and would probably agree to go anyway. Maybe if they spent more time together, Cristina would start to like her and everything would be much easier. "We'd love to come," he blurted out quickly so April wouldn't notice he was hesitating. Jackson knew that agreeing to come without asking Cristina might piss her off, but he was sure it would all go well in the end.

"Awesome," April shrieked excitedly. "I'll cook something. Does Cristina like Italian food? I could make some pasta."

"Yeah, Italian food is good."

"Great. See you at seven?" April asked and Jackson nodded. He still had a few hours to figure out how to announce his girlfriend that they were going to visit his friend for a dinner without upsetting her. Although he doubted that was even possible.

 

"So how is your day going?" Jackson asked casually during the lunch. He still hadn't decided how to tell Cristina about April's invitation, but he assumed it would all be easier if he knew what mood she was in.

"Ugh, awful." Cristina sighed at the thought of her day. "At first one of the models didn't show up so I had to look for someone else to shoot and then when I finally got back to my office I couldn't focus on anything because April was talking to someone in the hallway really loudly and her high pitched voice was making it even worse. I swear that if I have to spend more time with that woman than I already do, I will strangle her." Jackson gulped as Cristina talked about being annoyed by April. Maybe agreeing to come over for a dinner without discussing it with Cristina first wasn't the best idea. "But I don't want to think about that now. How is your day? Anything interesting?" Cristina asked, not noticing the thoughtful expression in Jackson's face.

"It's going okay," Jackson answered simply. He wasn't sure whether to tell her about April inviting them over for a dinner or not. She was invited so she needed to know that, but at the same time Jackson felt like not telling her would be better. Cristina didn't really like April and after what she had just told him he assumed that spending any more time with her wouldn't be the best idea. Yet he felt like Cristina would feel obliged to go anyway and he didn't want to put her through that. So not telling her would be the best option. At least that was what he thought at the moment. "Nothing too special. Just some boring paperwork with Shepherd." He rolled his eyes. "I hoped that if I became an artist I would never have to bother with that."

"Well, if you didn't try to save your girlfriend's job by buying a part of the magazine she works at, you wouldn't have to worry about paperwork." Cristina grinned at him.

"I would do it again." Jackson smiled and leaned over to kiss her.

They continued to eat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the food and each other's presence without having the need to say anything. Even though they had never had a problem to find a topic to talk about, they enjoyed the moments of silence just as much.

"Anyway, do you wanna come over tonight?" Cristina asked after a while as she finished her lunch. "It's been a while since we ordered some food and rented some movies, so I was thinking…" she suggested nonchalantly.

"I'm sorry. I have this... thing. With Mark," he said, trying to avoid eye contact and hoping Cristina wouldn't see he was lying. After all he was doing it for her own good. "But how about we make it tomorrow night? I can come over to your place and cook something delicious," he suggested quickly to not make Cristina think he didn't want to spend time with her.

"Oh, okay. Tomorrow's good." Cristina gave him a slight smile. She was too busy with her thoughts about work to notice Jackson's strange behavior.

"Tomorrow then."

 

April had never been into drinking but she was about to have a dinner with a man she had the biggest crush on and his girlfriend so she assumed a little bit of alcohol could only help her. An hour and half a bottle of wine later April heard a light knock on her door. "Coming," she yelled and quickly got up from her seat, suddenly feeling a little dizzy. "Hey. Come in," she said with a bright smile when she opened the door, but her smile quickly froze when except for Jackson and Cristina she only saw Jackson.

"Hi." Jackson gave her a shy smile as he walked in, still feeling guilty for lying to Cristina about where he was going. But now it was too late to change that so he had to try to push those feelings aside.

"Where is Cristina?" April asked, feeling even more nervous since it was just her and Jackson. She knew that spending evening with Jackson and Cristina may not be as comfortable as she would want it to be, but being alone with him was a whole other thing. The main reason why she invited Cristina was so she wouldn't get too nostalgic and eventually wouldn't tell Jackson all about her feelings for him. But now when Cristina wasn't there, April wasn't so sure she would manage to hold herself back. Especially after drinking much more wine than she planned. But she had to at least try and not to do anything stupid. Even though it might be hard.

"She's sorry but she couldn't come. She wasn't feeling well," Jackson answered immediately. He made up the excuse on the way to April's apartment and hoped she would believe him. He didn't want to tell April that he didn't tell Cristina about the invitation since she seemed to hate her and he assumed it wouldn't end up well if they spent the evening together. It was a little white lie that wouldn't hurt anyone. It could only help them feel more comfortable. At least that's what he was telling himself when he felt bad for lying to Cristina. He was doing it so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable, wasn't he?

"Oh, the poor thing. Tell her I hope she'll feel better soon," April said and Jackson just nodded, even though he knew he couldn't tell Cristina anything to not reveal his little secret. But she wasn't actually feeling sick anyway so it didn't matter.

Despite April's nervousness and Jackson's feeling of guilt the dinner ran smoothly. He had to admit the food was delicious and the conversation flowed quite nicely too. They talked about their times in college, the funny stories, embarrassing moments and even things the other person almost forgot about. It was nice for both of them to remember those times. After the dinner April took the dishes to the sink and they moved to the living room to talk some more.

"My mum just sent me this box with my stuff from college a couple of days ago. I haven't had time to go through it yet, but I'm sure there are some great memories in it," April said as she pulled out a big cardboard box filled with old photos and notebooks and opened it. "Look, there is a photo album from our last year of college," she cheered as she pulled out a dusty old album. She walked to the couch and sat next to Jackson, opening the album and smiling as all the old memories started flooding back. On the very first photo there were April and Jackson sitting in the library, studying for one of their exams.

"Oh, not this one." Jackson covered his eyes when he saw the photo. He hadn't seen any of his old photos for a while and almost forgot how horrible he looked back then. Even though now many women couldn't take their eyes off him, back in his college days he was wearing dreadlocks and a goatee, what, as he found out much later, didn't suit him at all. "I hoped nobody would ever see how horrible I looked back then."

"Oh, c'mon. It wasn't that bad. Even though that comes from a girl who wore her braces and big nerdy glasses through the whole time in college."

"At least you didn't look like a drug dealer from Jamaica." Jackson laughed. "And besides I think you looked cute despite the glasses and braces. I heard braces and nerdy glasses are kinda trendy lately so some of the nowadays kids might be even jealous." Jackson grinned and slowly turned the page over, preparing himself for another embarrassing photo.

"Thank you," April whispered with a small smile on her lips and felt her cheeks getting red. Despite changing a lot since college she still wasn't used to compliments. Especially not from someone as attractive as Jackson.

"Oh, look. Isn't this the photo from your birthday party?" Jackson asked, not noticing the redness in April's face as he was too busy inspecting another photo.

"Yeah, I guess it is." April nodded, but the smile from her face disappeared. She had always been kind of a loner so her birthdays, especially those she had during college, just reminded her she didn't have many people to celebrate them with. "The party wasn't a big success though," she sighed. "The few people that were there only came for the food and I think some of them didn't even know my name," she said sadly. "At least you stayed until the end of that disastrous party. I could always count on you."

"Well you have always been special to me." Jackson gave her a warm smile and April knew that if she wasn't sitting at that moment, her knees would buckle.

Jackson continued looking through the photos, but April was no longer that interested in them. All she could do now was to stare at Jackson, while thinking whether things would be different if she ever told him about her feelings for him. She always thought it was a stupid idea and there was no way he could be attracted to her, but suddenly she saw it differently. Maybe it was just all the alcohol she drank finally getting to her head, but she felt like there was something more behind that dreamy smile and nice words. That maybe she wasn't the only one who could imagine the two of them as something more than just friends. And while she knew that if she was completely sober and thinking straight she would never do that, now was not the time. It was time to do something she had wanted to do for years. So when Jackson leaned over to her to take a closer look at another photo she took his face in her hands, pressing her lips to his and softly kissing him. She didn't even take a second to look into his bright eyes, as if worried that if she didn't kiss him right away she would change her mind and the regret it for the rest of her life. What she didn't know was, that not stopping herself from kissing him could be the thing she would regret.

"Wh- what are you doing?" Jackson asked alarmed as he pulled away right after April's lips touched his. He had no idea how it happened, but he knew it wasn't right. Not when he had a girlfriend.

"I- I was just thinking…" she trailed off not being sure what to say. For a second she felt like Jackson wanted to kiss her. But maybe it was just the alcohol clouding her judgment. She didn't know for sure. "I thought… I thought you wanted to kiss me," April whispered, knowing she probably sounded ridiculous. Why would someone like Jackson want to kiss her? And if so why wouldn't he just do it instead of waiting for her to kiss him.

"What?" Jackson raised his eyebrows. "I have a girlfriend, April. A girlfriend that I love and that was supposed to be here with us tonight," he said, feeling even guiltier for not telling Cristina about the dinner with April. He already felt bad enough when he thought it was just a friendly visit not even now when April made a move on him. "How could you think I was planning to kiss you?" Jackson asked and from the look on April's face he could say that his words hurt her, but he didn't know how else to react. He had a girlfriend and April knew it so why would she think that kissing him was a good idea?

"I- I don't know. It just… For a second I thought you felt something for me. But clearly I was wrong," April mumbled, the tears building up in her eyes. She couldn't believe how stupid she was. Apparently Jackson never felt anything towards her. Maybe their friendship wasn't real either and he was just pretending to like her so she wouldn't feel so bad about herself.

Jackson didn't know what to say. Maybe Cristina really wasn't making it up when she told him that April was acting like a love struck teenager around him. Back then he thought she was just being jealous for no reason, but now he could finally see what she meant. April had feelings for him. And he had never realized that before. But even if he did, it wouldn't change much. As much as he liked April, she was never more than just a friend for him. A very good friend, but that was it. "Look, April," he started, still not sure what to say. "I like you. I always did. Just…"

"Just not in the way you like Cristina," April finished for him and quickly wiped the few tears from her cheeks. She didn't want Jackson to see her cry. Not when she was crying because of him.

"Not the way I like Cristina," Jackson repeated and the mention of his girlfriend's name made him feel guilty again. "I should go," he said after a few seconds of awkward silence and April didn't try to stop him. She knew she made a mistake and there was no way to take it back. Jackson quietly took his jacket and walked out of the apartment, having no idea what the whole evening was supposed to mean. But he knew one thing. That if Cristina found out, he would be screwed.


	13. Chapter 13

"Hey, April," Cristina said with a small smile when she ran into the redhead on the way to her office. Usually she didn't feel like smiling when she saw her, but today she had woke up in a surprisingly good mood. Which was something that didn't happen to her often. She didn't have anything big planned for her day at work and she hoped it would run quickly as she and Jackson were supposed to spend the evening together which she was looking forward to a lot.

"Oh, hi," April replied, avoiding looking at Cristina. She still felt bad and embarrassed about what happened the previous evening and she expected Cristina to be mad at her. After all Jackson surely told her about her attempt to kiss him and there was no way she would just brush it off. But to April's surprise Cristina didn't seem to be angry with her so she didn't complain. "Are you feeling any better today? Jackson told me you couldn't make it to dinner last night because you weren't feeling very well so I hope you're better now," April said, trying to start some sort of small conversation, but immediately regretted that she didn't choose a better topic to talk about.

Reminding Cristina about the evening that she tried to make a drunken move on her boyfriend probably wasn't the best idea.

In fact it was a horrible idea, but it was too late to take it back.

Cristina reminded silent for a second, wondering what was April talking about. She wasn't feeling sick yesterday. And what dinner was she supposed to make it to? She didn't remember anyone inviting her anywhere. In fact she was the one who invited Jackson over for a dinner, but he told her he was going somewhere with Mark. But if he was with the April then he probably wasn't with Mark. Cristina's mind was running wild, quickly trying to put the pieces together but she had no idea what was going on. It looked like Jackson probably wasn't telling her something.

When Cristina didn't say anything, April knew she'd made a mistake when she brought up what happened at dinner.

"I- I'm sorry. I guess that's not something you want to talk about. It's certainly not something I want to talk about," she said with her eyes glues to the floor. "Just... Just tell Jackson I'm sorry, okay? I was a little tipsy and I wasn't thinking straight. If I was sober I wouldn't... I wouldn't kiss him. So just tell him I'm sorry," April rambled, trying to apologize.

She couldn't take back what happened, but at least she had to let Jackson know she felt bad about it, which of course Cristina needed to know as well. Even though it wouldn't change anything, she had to apologize. As April thought about the previous evening she felt tears building up in the corners of her eyes again and decided it was the time to go back to her office. "I gotta go," she mumbled as she quickly walked away, leaving Cristina standing there, staring into the empty space as anger started to build up inside of her.

After the little conversation she had with April Cristina couldn't think about anything else. She still didn't know what exactly happened but she knew it wasn't good. Obviously Jackson lied to her when he said he was going somewhere with Mark. Unless April went with them, but Cristina didn't think that was the case. If Mark was around April wouldn't kiss Jackson, would she? Well either way she did and there was nothing that would make Cristina angrier than another woman putting her hands on her boyfriend. Or even worse, her lips. Especially when it wasn't just a stranger who found Jackson attractive. It was his best friend.

At least that was what he said because clearly he meant something more to April. Even though Cristina knew that Jackson probably didn't even want April to kiss him, it didn't change the fact that he had lied to her. Which wasn't something she could forgive him for instantly. Not after what she went through in her previous relationships. She spent the whole day deep in her thoughts, trying to figure out what really happened, but she couldn't be sure until she talked to Jackson. If he would, of course, tell her the truth.

Jackson was grateful he didn't have to go to the magazine that day. After what happened between him and April, running into her was the last thing he wanted. And even though he knew he couldn't avoid her forever, he needed some time to process everything. She had feelings for him and clearly he was the only one who never noticed it. He couldn't believe he was such an idiot. If he realized she felt some for him sooner, he could just gently tell her he was not interested and none of this would have happened. But it was far too late for that now and he had to figure out what to do next. He didn't want to lose his friend, but at the same time he couldn't imagine their friendship being the same as before. After turning her down in such a rude way April probably didn't want to be his friend anymore anyway.

And then of course there was his relationship with Cristina. He had no idea what to do. He wanted to tell her that she was right about April having a crush on him and reassure her that he had no interest in her, there was nothing for her to worry about. But he knew he couldn't tell her anything. Not without telling her where he was the previous evening and revealing that he lied to her. It felt like such a good idea at first. He wanted to just spend a nice evening with April without having to worry about Cristina feeling uncomfortable around her. It was just one lie that was not supposed to hurt anyone. It wasn't supposed to be a lie that caused more uncomfortable situations. As much as Jackson wanted, he couldn't change what already happened. He could just try not to make it even worse. And he could only achieve that if Cristina never found out what happened.

Cristina was sitting on the couch in her apartment, anxiously staring at her watch and waiting for Jackson to come. She hadn't seen him the whole day, but she hoped that despite the things between him and April he didn't forget that they planned to have a dinner together. Not that she felt like eating with him.

At least not until Jackson had told her the truth about last night.

Either way, she knew the conversation between them was not going to be pretty. Jackson lied to her and it was something Cristina couldn't forgive so easily. If ever. Maybe she fell in love with him far too quickly before she even had the chance to consider whether he was the right guy for her.

It was shortly after six when Cristina finally heard a soft knock. She took a deep breath and slowly walked to the door, preparing herself for the probably unpleasant conversation with Jackson she was about to have. She was still really mad and the fact that she spent her day thinking about all the reasons why their relationship could fall apart wasn't helping it.

"Hey," Jackson said and gave Cristina a small smile, trying to act as naturally as possible. Not telling her about everything would be hard, but it was the only way to not reveal his lies and ruin their relationship. Cristina didn't say anything, so he just leaned over to kiss her but before his lips had the chance to meet hers she took a step back, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Jackson. "Is something wrong?" he asked confused, not knowing why Cristina didn't let him kiss her. He didn't remember doing anything wrong. Well of course there was this whole thing about him not telling Cristina about April inviting them over for a dinner, but she didn't know about that, did she?

"Oh, is there?" Cristina replied sarcastically. "How would I even know if there is something wrong when you're clearly not telling me everything?" she snapped. This was not how she planned the conversation to start, but seeing Jackson act like nothing happened just made her even madder than she already was.

"So you know..." Jackson whispered. Now he understood why Cristina acted the way she did. And he wished he had prepared for this kind of conversation instead of just trying to hide the truth from her.

"Of course I know. Your dear friend April asked me whether I was feeling better today because clearly I wasn't feeling well yesterday and couldn't make it to dinner. The dinner nobody invited me to in the first place," she continued, not giving Jackson a chance to say anything. Not until she was done. But obviously saying all those things at loud was not making her calmer. It made her realize it really happened and the anger grew in her with each word.

"Look I can explain all that. April invited us both over for a dinner and I wanted to tell you, but then you started talking about how you couldn't spend any more time with her so I thought..." Jackson tried to speak, but Cristina interrupted him again.

"Thought what? That being with her while letting me believe you were with Mark would make me like her more? That it would make it easier for me to work with her every day?" Cristina asked and Jackson knew that when she put it like that it sounded ridiculous. But he really just wanted not to make things worse between Cristina and April.

"I'm sorry. I know it was a stupid idea," he whispered, trying to apologize.

"Was it? Because think it was a brilliant idea. All you had to do was not mention it for the rest of your life and everything would be fine. But then April would need to keep her mouth shut too. Which she clearly can't do. Just like she can't keep her mouth away from other people's boyfriend's mouths," Cristina continued, furiously. She hoped they would have a quiet adult conversation, but once she started talking about Jackson lying to her and April kissing him she was anything but calm.

"She told you about the kiss?" Jackson asked, as his eyes widened. He really didn't expect April to talk to Cristina about that. But then again he didn't expect her to kiss him either.

"Yeah, but from the look on your face I can see it's another thing you planned to hide from me, didn't you?" When Jackson didn't say anything Cristina took it as yes. "Of course," she scoffed.

"It's not like that," Jackson tried to defend himself, but there wasn't much he could say to make the situation better. He really didn't plan to tell Cristina what happened. But it was just to not make everything even worse. And as he just found out, he didn't succeed at that.

"Of course it's not like that. You came here, acting like everything was okay because you didn't want to tell me about anything," Cristina said sarcastically, not knowing whether she should yell at him for lying to her or cry because she was disappointed in him. She felt like doing both.

"You didn't even let me explain," Jackson sighed, getting desperate. Cristina was clearly really pissed at him and anything he tried to say to explain the situation was just making it worse.

"What is there to explain? You lied to me. And you didn't even plan to tell me the truth. I thought our relationship was real. That we were honest to each other. But maybe that was just me," Cristina tried to yell, but her voice broke in the middle of the sentence. After finally letting all the anger out the real feelings started to get to her, she was disappointed. And scared and worried that her relationship with Jackson was nowhere near as perfect as she thought. She was afraid that this wasn't the first time Jackson hid things from her. Maybe he was just another man who was using her the whole time.

Hearing Cristina say that she was the only one who was honest in their relationship hit Jackson right in the heart. He knew he had made a huge mistake when he lied to her, but it only happened once. He loved her and he tried to be honest with her. He would never hurt her on purpose. "Well maybe if you weren't so stubborn and at least tried to like April, none of this would have happened," Jackson said, raising his voice more than he planned, but when he saw Cristina gasp, he knew he definitely should have kept his mouth shut. He quickly tried to think of something to say to explain it wasn't what he sounded like, but he didn't have the chance.

"Get out!" Cristina yelled. She didn't want things to go that far, but she wouldn't let Jackson blame her for what he did. And she definitely wouldn't let him raise his voice at her when she didn't do anything wrong.

"Cristina, just let me…" Jackson tried to stop her from throwing him out, but it was too late. He had his chance to explain everything and he blew it.

"I told you to get out!" she yelled even louder, pushing Jackson out of her apartment. "I don't wanna see you again," she said angrily and slammed the door in his face.

Jackson knew there was no way she would let him in or let alone talked to him at the moment so he just sighed, mumbled something about being an idiot and slowly walked away.

Cristina kept staring at the door for a few minutes, replaying everything that had just happened in her head and then burst into tears.


	14. Chapter 14

"So how are you and Cristina doing?" Mark asked during one of his usual workouts with Jackson. Today, for a change, they were trying out boxing. "We haven't talked about her since you were the big hero and saved her job." He grinned, hitting the punching bag. After a difficult morning at work it was a great way to relieve stress.

"Things are not the best right now," Jackson answered simply, also punching the bag, as he thought about the fight with Cristina. Three days had passed since it happened and he still hadn't spoken to her. He assumed it would be better to let her cool down a little before he would try to bring their relationship back to normal. He had already done enough harm and he would only make it worse by pushing her into talking too soon. Even though it was killing him that he hadn't seen her for what felt like eternity.

"Oh, no. What did she do to you?" Mark turned his head to Jackson, wondering what was going on in his best friend and his girlfriend's relationship. He noticed that Jackson was surprisingly quiet that day, but he assumed he just tried to focus on working out.

"She didn't really do anything. I'm the one who got myself into trouble." Jackson sighed and Mark just gave him a confused look. "Do you remember April?"

"You mean ducky? How could I forget her? She was always following you like a lost puppy," Mark said with laugh and Jackson glared at him. "Lexie told me she's the new chief of editor in the magazine. Did you hire her?" Mark didn't understand why was Jackson suddenly asking about April, but he assumed that he just wanted to change the topic so he didn't ask.

"No. And if I knew what was gonna happen I'd probably have tried to talk her out of taking the job," Jackson said and shook his head. April wasn't the problem here. Or at least she wasn't the only person that caused rift in his relationship with Cristina. "The day she started to work in the magazine I met her in the hallway and we talked for a bit. We both wanted to catch up on things but I already planned to have lunch with Cristina so I asked April to join us. But after the lunch it was clear that Cristina didn't like April very much. So when she asked me to come over for a dinner and bring Cristina with me I was hesitant to even tell Cristina about it, which got me into this mess." Jackson rambled and stopped punching the bag for a second, rubbing his face with his hands while trying to explain the whole situation to Mark, but it wasn't that easy. "I didn't tell her that April invited us over and then when I came to visit her I just said Cristina wasn't feeling well and couldn't come. What I didn't think about was, that April would ask Cristina whether she was feeling better the next day and by that revealed everything."

"Well that's tough. Did you try to explain things to Cristina?" Mark asked when Jackson stopped talking for a second. He didn't know what to tell his friend to help him. After all he didn't know Cristina that well.

"I did. But she just kicked me out of her apartment before I even had the chance to make it better," Jackson said, frowning. "Well maybe she wouldn't kick me out if I didn't unintentionally blame her for what happened," he added in a whisper, still feeling guilty for what he said. He regretted what he said the second those words left his mouth, but that didn't change anything.

"Woah, that's one pretty big mess. I told you not to start anything with Cristina because she can be pretty rough, but you didn't listen." Mark shook his head. He considered himself to be much more experienced with women than Jackson so he was always trying to give him some sort of advice, but Jackson never listened to him and then got into trouble.

"That's not all. After the dinner April and I were going through some old photos from college, remembering the old good times and then out of nowhere she kissed me. And you can only guess how Cristina reacted when she found out."

Mark's jaw dropped a little as he listened to his friend, but he had to admit he wasn't that surprised. He had always thought that April had a big crush on Jackson. He just never expected her to do anything about it, especially not after all this time. She had always been really shy and awkward around Jackson and he didn't think that would ever change. "I always told you she had a crush on you," Mark said after a while of silence when he thought about the times in college. "But as usual, you didn't listen to me."

"Well even if I believed you back then, I wouldn't think it would still be true or that she would do anything about it. Especially since she knew I have a girlfriend. Or at least had back then," he added the last sentence with sadness in his voice. He hadn't tried to talk to Cristina since their fight so he didn't know whether he could still call her his girlfriend or whether she was done with him forever. He was too afraid to ask.

"So what are you gonna do? Will you two break up?" Mark asked curiously.

"I hope not. I don't wanna break up with Cristina. I love her. I'll just let her cool down a bit before I try to talk to her again and hope it works. There is nothing else I can do." He sighed, hoping that apologizing to her would fix the damage he had done to their relationship.

"Well good luck with that." Mark laughed, knowing that his friend had a difficult time ahead of him.

After Jackson came home from the gym, he headed straight to the shower, still thinking about his conversation with Mark. He had to admit that Mark was right when he told him that Cristina could be pretty rough sometimes, but he also knew she could be nice and caring when she wanted. However, he was afraid she wouldn't be so nice to him the next time he tried to talk to her. As he let the water run over his body, he tried to think of what he was going to tell Cristina once he met up with her again. He didn't know when that was going to be, but he needed to be prepared. Although as much as he tried, there was nothing he could say to excuse his lying to her. He may tell her he did it for her so she wouldn't have to suffer through a dinner with April, but he doubted that would work. Besides there was also the part when he said it was Cristina's fault that he had to lied to her and he doubted she forgot about that. He stood in the shower for what seemed like an eternity, and came to the conclusion that it was impossible to find an easy way to fix his relationship with Cristina. He would just have to apologize and hope for the best.

After realizing that the water couldn't just wash his problems away, he turned off the shower, dried himself and quickly put some clothes on. Maybe he could try to put his misery into a painting and if he was lucky enough some right words that would solve his problem would come to his mind too. He was just about to pull out a clean canvas and start painting when he heard a light knock on the door.

"Meredith? What are you doing here?" Jackson asked when he saw Meredith standing on his doorstep with rather upset expression on her face.

"Try to guess," she answered sarcastically and walked into his apartment, not waiting for an invitation. Even though she liked Jackson from the day one, after Cristina had told her what happened between them, Meredith didn't feel like being nice to him. But that didn't change the fact that she had something important to talk about with him.

"It's about that fight between me and Cristina, isn't it?" He exactly knew why Meredith was here, yet it still surprised him. The things between him and Cristina were bad right now, but he didn't think Cristina would be the type of woman who would send her best friend to fix things with her boyfriend. "Look, if she sent you here to…"

"She doesn't know I'm here," Meredith interrupted him sooner than he managed to finish the sentence.

"She doesn't?" Jackson raised his eyebrows in surprise and Meredith just shook her head.

"Cristina is too proud and stubborn to talk to you. But she loves you. And unless you don't love her back, you need to sort things out between the two of you. You can't break up with her just because you had a bad fight," she said, crossing her arms. Meredith knew how much it hurt Cristina when Jackson lied to her, but she also knew that them being apart was hurting her even more. And she couldn't let it stay that way if she could help them fix their relationship somehow.

"I did not break up with her. Is that what she thinks?" Jackson asked, worried what Cristina had taken away from their fight. He had no intention of ending their relationship, how could he, he loved her and thought that their fight was just one of the many bumps on the road. "Well the last time I saw her she kicked me out of her apartment. There wasn't much space to talk." Jackson frowned as he remembered the day he last talked to Cristina. He knew it was all his fault and that he was the one who needed to apologize, but he still felt a little aggrieved that Cristina didn't even give him a chance to explain everything to her.

"Well this time you'll need to try a little harder because you have to talk. Soon. She seems to be giving up on your relationship and I don't want her to do that. Even though I think you're an asshole for doing what you did with you… She's been happier than I've ever seen her. So be man enough and stop avoiding her."

"I was not avoiding her!" Jackson exclaimed. "I've been planning to talk to her and apologize ever since it happened. I was just waiting for her to cool down a little. Or perhaps for her to come to me," he added the last sentence in a whisper, knowing it probably sounded stupid. There was no way Cristina would come to him. Especially not since he was the one who made a mistake.

"Oh, you can't be serious," Meredith murmured and rolled her eyes as she listened to Jackson talk. If Jackson really expected Cristina to make the first step, then he was horribly wrong. Apparently someone had to knock some sense into him. Literally.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Jackson asked, rubbing his shoulder when Meredith hit him all of sudden. He had to admit that for such a small person she had a surprisingly strong punch.

"You're an idiot! This is Cristina Yang we're talking about. You can't expect her to come to you., especially not after what you did! No matter how much she misses you. And she also won't just cool down. She will probably yell at you and maybe even hit you. But that's just because she's hurt and she cares about your relationship. So just get your crap together and talk to her already. Because if you don't I'll be the one to hit you." She pointed her finger at him, trying to make a scary expression on her face to make sure Jackson understood she really meant it.

"Already happened," Jackson said with a small grin, acting offended. But he knew Meredith was right. He needed to apologize and he had to do it as soon as possible.

Cristina was never the kind of person who would stay at home from work for no reason. Actually she was usually there more than was needed. But after her fight with Jackson she called in sick, saying she wasn't feeling well. Which wasn't exactly a lie since she felt miserable about what happened. But mostly she just didn't feel like facing Jackson. At least not yet. She was still mad at him, but also mad at herself for not letting him explain what really happened between him and April and why he lied to her. She had to admit she overreacted a little and now she wished she didn't. But it was too late for that now. She didn't know what to do. On one side she was angry and never wanted to talk to him again, but on the other side she missed him and just wanted to forget about everything and continue with their relationship like nothing happened. She wanted to talk to him and sort things out between them, but she was too proud to make the first step. After all he was the one who had to apologize so he needed to come to her. But she was too worried he wouldn't because he realized he would be better off without her.

"Stop thinking like that," Cristina murmured to herself. "He is lucky he ever had the opportunity to be in a relationship with you and that you're still willing to give him a chance after what he did. And if he doesn't take it then it's his lose." Yes, she had to think like that. If he didn't want to fight for her then he didn't deserve her and she would be better off without him. Even though she couldn't imagine that after six months of a happy relationship it could be all over. She lay in her bed, wondering what was going to happen. The only thing she knew was that she had to stop hiding and get back to her life. Even if it meant facing Jackson at work the next day. She was just about to climb out of her bed and order something to eat when she heard knocking on her door.

"Wh- what are you doing here?" Cristina asked as she opened the door and saw Jackson, not hiding that she was surprised to see him. It had been three days since she last saw him and since he hadn't even tried to contact her the whole time, she was worried that after everything that happened between them she may never see him again.

"I came to apologize," he answered simply. "If you let me. Of course."

Cristina stared at him for a second and then stepped away from the door. "Come in," she said and stepped away from the door.

Jackson slowly walked in, wondering how to start the conversation. He tried to plan it all in his head, but once he saw Cristina again he was left speechless. "I was looking for you at work, but they told me you called in sick. Are you alright?" he asked, the concern obvious in his voice.

"I'm okay. Just didn't really feel like facing you just yet, so I stayed home," Cristina admitted, hoping she didn't sound too childish because she was trying to avoid him. "It was also safer for April that I didn't come in contact with her after I found out what she did," she added bitterly and Jackson gave her an apologetic look. Knowing that Cristina avoided going to work because of what he caused made him feel even worse. If that was even possible.

"Well just so you know, you wouldn't run into me. I was kind of avoiding you too. I was worried I would make things worse if I tried to talk to you."

"But you're here now. Aren't you worried everything will be even worse?" Cristina raised her eyebrows.

"I haven't talked to you for three days. Can it get any worse?" he asked and tiny smirk crossed Cristina's face. It really was torture to not see him or talk to him for what seemed like ages to them. They were both quiet for a moment and Jackson knew it was time to do what he came there to do. "I want to apologize. For everything. Lying to you, mostly," he started, taking a deep breath. "I was stupid when I thought that lying was an easy way to avoid unpleasant situations. Now I know that it can only make things worse. Much worse. And while I know my stupidity doesn't apologize my actions, it's the only thing that explains why I thought any of this was a good idea. I'm not expecting you to forgive me and forget about the things I did or said but…" He sighed, not sure what to say next. He couldn't explain why he did what he did. It just seemed right at the moment. And now he knew it wasn't. "Do you really want to throw away everything we had? Everything we have? Just because I'm so utterly stupid?"

"No," Cristina answered without hesitation. She knew she loved Jackson. No matter how mad she was at the moment. And she definitely didn't want to throw their relationship away. She had never been happier in her life than she was with him. So she knew they had to work things out between them. Even though she wasn't sure how. "I'm just still so angry."

"Well then use me as your punching bag. Hit me, kick me, do whatever you want to me. I deserve it. Just please, don't cut me off. I love you and not talking to you is a punishment I can't take. Even though I know I deserve it."

Cristina smiled a little when Jackson said he loved her. She could see he really did mean it and didn't say it just to make things better between them. And she couldn't be that mad at someone who truly loved her, could she? "I'm not gonna hit you. But yes, you really do deserve it," she laughed and Jackson was glad to see that. "You're not the only one who made mistakes. I don't trust people easily, but with you… It was different," Cristina started a little hesitantly. She knew she had to tell him about this one day and now was the ideal moment. Jackson needed to know why she acted the way she did. "We met and I felt like I could tell you anything. That I could trust you. So when I found out you lied to me… I was so mad at you for doing that and at me for trusting you so easily. And when I found out she kissed you…" Cristina stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath. "It just brought way too many bad memories for me to think straight." Jackson gave Cristina a confused look and she knew she couldn't back out now. This was a big part of her past and if they were supposed to get through this, she had to tell him. It was the only way for him to understand her actions completely. Or at least she hoped he would. "This is something I've never told anyone except Meredith so you need to promise me you'll keep it to yourself."

"Of course." Jackson nodded, anxious to find out what Cristina was about to tell him.

"I don't really like talking about this, but you should know so long story short. I was engaged once. To a man I thought I loved. And I thought he loved me back. Until I came home early one day and found him having sex with my colleague. A woman that I thought was my friend and who was lying to my face for weeks. I have never felt more humiliated," she whispered the last few words, feeling the tears form in the corners of her eyes.

"Oh, my God. I'm sorry. I had no idea," Jackson said, taking Cristina's hand into his and giving it a squeeze. Suddenly he understood Cristina's behavior when she found out that he lied to her and that April kissed him. It must have brought all the painful memories from her previous relationship and he felt terrible for causing that.

"You don't need to feel sorry for me. You didn't know. I just want you to understand why I acted like that when I found out that you had lied to me. I don't want to be the crazy jealous girlfriend who is making your life a living hell," she said and quickly wiped a tear that rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry I overacted and threw you out of my apartment. I guess I should've talked to you before jumping to consequences. But you need to understand that…"

"It's okay. I'm sorry I gave you a reason to doubt me. And I'm sorry I lied to you. It was a stupid thing to do. And I'll do my best to never make it happen again. I swear."

"I think we both made some mistakes. And I will understand if you don't want to have anything to do with me now when you know about this," she murmured, avoiding the eye contact. As much as she loved Jackson, she didn't want him to stay with her if her baggage was too much for him. So she was giving him an easy way out.

"Don't be silly. If this story did anything to me, then it just made me understand you better. It takes far more to scare me away," Jackson said with a smile as he lifted Cristina's chin, making her look into his eyes.

"So… Are we okay again?" Cristina asked hesitantly. She knew she wanted to be with Jackson. More than anything. But despite what he just said she would still understand if after everything that happened between them he chose to break up with her.

"Do you want to?" Jackson asked and Cristina nodded. There was nothing she wanted more than to get her relationship with Jackson back to normal. Even though she wouldn't forget about their fight anytime soon. "Then I'll be the happiest person on the earth." He smiled and leaned over to give her a soft kiss on the lips, before pulling her into a hug and promising himself to never let her go again.


	15. Chapter 15

Almost a month had passed since Cristina and Jackson reunited and their relationship seemed to be back to normal. They decided not to talk about the incident with April and just move past it even though none of them could forget about it. Working together was still a little awkward for all three of them, but they tried to keep it professional.

"My mum called me yesterday. She's coming to town for a few days because of work and she would also like to use this opportunity meet you," Jackson announced during breakfast one morning, trying to sound casual. He knew that Cristina meeting his mother for the first time was a big deal, but he didn't want to scare her.

"She's what?" Cristina asked, almost choking on her cereal when Jackson said his mother wanted to meet her. They had been together for over half a year and she knew it was going to happen at some point, but she still felt surprised. And she also didn't understand how could Jackson look so calm while telling her something like that. Wasn't it scary as hell for him too? "Are you- Are you sure it's not too soon?"

Jackson saw the sudden panic in Cristina's eyes and he took her hand into his, trying to comfort her. "I know it seems a bit rushed, especially since we haven't talked about meeting each other's parents yet, but I think it's about time. And I couldn't say no to my mother since she's coming here anyway. But trust me, it's gonna be okay." He smiled, trying to reassure both him and Cristina that the meeting with his mum was going to be alright.

He had never introduced any of his girlfriends to his parents because he was worried they would scare them away, but it was different with Cristina. He loved her more than he loved anyone before and he knew he wanted to spend his future with her so she was probably going to meet his parents anyway. And the sooner it happened, the better. Of course he was worried that for some reason his mother wouldn't like Cristina or that she would scare her by asking way too many questions or being rude to her, but he hoped it was all going to be okay in the end.

"Well I need to warn you that I don't have the best experience with meeting parents. For an unknown reason they find me hard to like," Cristina said as she remembered the few meetings with her boyfriends' parents she went through.

"Hard to like?" Jackson raised his eyebrows. "How could anyone not like you? I admit you can be a bit stubborn but when you want you are also the sweetest and most wonderful person I know."

"I don't know. They're morons," Cristina muttered and blushed a little at Jackson's compliment. They had been together for several months but his sweet words still made her smile as though it was the first time he said something like that to her. And she loved that. Even though she wouldn't admit it out-loud.

Jackson laughed and continued. "Well what about your mum? Don't you want her to meet me?" he asked. Jackson noticed that Cristina rarely mentioned her mother and he wondered whether she even knew that her daughter was dating someone.

"No," Cristina answered immediately. The idea of Jackson meeting her mother had never crossed her mind and she knew it was because she didn't want it to happen anytime soon. If ever.

"Why? Are you embarrassed of me?" Jackson asked acting offended.

"No, I'm embarrassed of her. My dad is pretty cool though." Cristina smiled at the mention of her father. Even though she and her mother had a complicated relationship, she got along well with her father. She hoped that once Jackson met him her father would approve.

"Does it mean I'm never gonna meet them?" Jackson assumed that Cristina wasn't that close to her parents, but as scary as it seemed, he knew he wanted to meet them sooner or later.

"Not until the wedding day," Cristina let said without thinking, realizing what she let slip out when it was too late to take it back.

"Did you just say wedding day?" Jackson asked in a mocking tone, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"No," Cristina mumbled, her eyes glued to the bowl of cereal and her cheeks getting red. She couldn't believe she said that. Not that she had never thought about future with Jackson, but this really wasn't the best way to share her thoughts with him.

"You're already thinking about us getting married? That's so cute," Jackson said with a smirk, teasing her some more, but on the inside he couldn't be happier about what Cristina just said. He knew it was something that left her mouth without thinking, but it felt even better. "But even though I really do love you and want to marry you someday, don't you think it's a little soon to discuss our guest list?"

"I didn't mean to say that," Cristina whispered, still feeling a little embarrassed. "I wanted to say that if you ever get to meet my mother it will be after we get married. If we ever happen to get married. Because I don't want her to make you run away."

"There is nothing that would make me run away from you." Jackson smiled and gave Cristina a kiss. "And I hope you feel the same way, because meeting my mum probably won't be easy."

"I've been through several disastrous and embarrassing meetings with parents. This can't be much worse," Cristina said, trying to stay positive about the meeting with Jackson's mother.

"I'm glad you're optimistic, but I need to warn you that my mum will probably give you a lot of personal questions. But you don't need to answer them if you don't want to. Don't let her sharp lawyer attitude scare you."

"Don't worry about me. I think I can handle a little chat with one meddling mother." Cristina grinned, trying to hide the fact that she was a bit nervous about meeting Jackson's mum. She didn't have the best experience when it came to meeting het boyfriends' parents. During her high school and college years it was mostly awkward, but once she was in more serious relationships the meetings with parents got more serious too.

And not in a good way. But she was sure she went through the worst possible scenario with Burke's mum. Not only was she mean to her when they were together, but when Cristina broke off the engagement with Burke after she found out he was cheating on her, his mother came to her telling her how disappointed she was in her and how she broke her son's heart. So Jackson's mother couldn't be worse than that.

"I really hope so."

"Ready to go?" Jackson asked as he walked into Cristina's office. It had been a few days since he told her that his mother would be coming to Seattle and today was the day they were supposed to meet up for lunch.

"How do I look?" Cristina asked instead of an answer as she finished putting on her lipstick. She was wearing dark pants and a red blouse that was perfectly matching her red lipstick. Usually she wore jeans and a T-shirt to work, but today she wanted to impress Jackson's mother and look the best she possibly could without looking like she tried too hard.

"Gorgeous as usual." Jackson smiled and gave her a light kiss on the cheek, not wanting to ruin her makeup.

"I need to look better than usually. I'm sure your mother will look all fancy schmancy and I don't want her to think I'm not good looking enough for her dear son." Cristina murmured, looking at her clothes once again and wondering whether she could've worn something better.

"What happened to the always confident Cristina Yang?" Jackson asked with a chuckle.

"I guess she's a bit more nervous than she thought she would be," Cristina said, blushing a little. She didn't like admitting that she was nervous, but she couldn't hide it. Meeting Jackson's mother was a big step in their relationship and she was worried she would screw it up somehow.

When Jackson saw the insecurity in Cristina's eyes, he took her hands into his, giving her an encouraging smile. "Look at it this way. I love you and nothing that my mother does or says will change it. You can't lose anything except for a bit of your time so there is no need to be worried."

"I hope you're right." Cristina sighed and together they left the office.

Only a couple of minutes later they arrived to a nearby restaurant where they were supposed to meet Jackson's mother. They asked a waiter for their table and he announced them that Catherine was already there.

"Hey," Jackson said as they walked towards the table where his mother was sitting. "I hope you hadn't been waiting for too long." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and smiled.

"Well hello." Catherine smiled back at her son. It had been a couple of months since she last saw him and she immediately noticed how happy he looked. "Don't worry I only arrived a few minutes before you did." She waved her hand as it was not a big deal and then she noticed Cristina who was quietly standing next to Jackson. "You must be Cristina. Just as beautiful as Jackson said." Catherine greeted Cristina with a huge smile and gave her a light hug. "I'm so glad to finally meet you."

Cristina was surprised by Catherine's friendliness, but she couldn't complain. "It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Avery."

Jackson watched the two of his favorite women greet and he hoped they would stay this nice to each other for the rest of the lunch, but he knew that behind his mother's sweet smile there were many curious and personal questions she was going to ask Cristina and he was worried that may scare her. It was one of the reasons why he didn't want any of his previous girlfriends to meet his mother. She was usually way too nosey and he was afraid it may affect his relationship in a bad way. But it was different with Cristina. Despite being together for just a little over half a year he felt like she really might be the one. And he hoped that Catherine's behavior wouldn't do any harm to their relationship or perhaps make her realize that it was a little too much for her to handle at the moment.

"So, Cristina, tell me something about you. Where did you grow up? What do you like to do? I want to get to know you better," Catherine asked the second they sat down and Jackson rolled his eyes. He knew that it wouldn't take his mother too long before she would start interrogating Cristina, but he hoped she could keep the questions to herself at least until they ordered their food.

Cristina didn't like talking about herself very much, but Jackson warned her that his mother would ask her a lot so she wasn't surprised. "Well," Cristina started hesitantly not being sure what to say to satisfy Catherine. She didn't think her life was that interesting. At least not compared to the life of a successful lawyer. "I grew up in California and moved here to study economics at a university. I always loved art, especially photography but my parents wanted me to do something that would give me more certainty. But I guess it wasn't meant to be since I ended up taking photos for living anyway."

"Oh, Jackson never mentioned you took the road of art too. He said you work in a magazine," Catherine said, glaring at her son for not telling her the truth about Cristina's job. She didn't understand why he had the need to lie to her. It was not like she would hate Cristina just because she was an artist.

"Well…" Cristina wanted to tell Catherine that she really did work in a magazine, but Jackson interrupted her.

"My mum doesn't think that anything that has something to do with art is a proper job," he explained. Jackson knew his mother still didn't completely accept that he didn't become a lawyer as she wanted him to. It was the reason why he never told her what Cristina was doing for a living and he hoped his mother wouldn't judge Cristina for following her dream to become a photographer. After all if it wasn't for her photos they would probably never have met each other.

"I never said that. But art is not something you can rely on. You might be a popular artist one day, but the next day something new comes and nobody is interested in you anymore," Catherine said. She knew it seemed like she disapproved of the way of life that Jackson and Cristina took, but she just wanted the best for her son. And she was worried that his dream to become a famous artist wouldn't come true.

Jackson was just about to say something to stop his mother from bashing art some more when a waiter came to their table, asking for their orders and Cristina couldn't be more grateful. She could feel that the discussion between Catherine and Jackson was heating up a little and the lunch hadn't even started properly. She was afraid what would happen if it continued this way.

Thankfully by the time the waiter took their orders the discussion about art was already forgotten but for Catherine it meant it was time for more questions. In the next thirty minutes she asked Cristina everything there was about her job, family, her relationship with Jackson and pretty much anything she could think of. Jackson tried to stop her several times, but Catherine successfully ignored him.

When the waiter finally brought the food Cristina was hoping it would mean the questions time was over. And while Catherine was a lady and knew that talking with full mouth was inappropriate it didn't mean she couldn't spend the time making up a bunch of questions to ask Cristina once they had finished their food. Cristina was glad for the silence while they were eating, but deep down she could feel that Catherine wasn't done yet. Jackson was right when he warned that there would be many personal questions, but she hoped he was just exaggerating. Unfortunately he wasn't and his mother really had prepared a lot of questions for her. If it was someone else Cristina would ended the conversation a long time ago, but since she wanted to impress Catherine and show her that she was the right person for her son, she silently suffered through the lunch.

"Well what about kids?" Catherine asked after the waiter took their plates away. "Are you planning to have some?"

"Mum!" Jackson tried to stop her once again. He and Cristina had never talked about the possibility of having kids one day. He wasn't even sure if he was made to be a father. So he didn't want his mother to bring up the question and push Cristina into answering it before they talked about it. But Catherine wouldn't give up easily.

"What? I just want to know whether there is a chance that my only son and his girlfriend will ever give me grandchildren. It's not like I'm pushing you two into it."

"You don't need to answer that," Jackson told Cristina to not make her feel obliged to answer to such a personal question. Even though he was dying to know her answer.

"It's okay," Cristina said. She had to admit that the idea of kids never really crossed her mind. Or at least she never bothered with it. She had never been in a relationship that would be serious enough to make her think about kids. Well except the one with Burke. But surprisingly even though they were engaged, they never talked about it. As if they knew that their relationship was going to fall apart anyway. "I'm not sure kids are in the cards for me at the moment. And I think it's too soon to talk about that. But I'm not dismissing the possibility of having kids one day. We'll have to wait and see."

"Well I'm glad to hear that you're considering it," Catherine said with a smile. "It would be good to have someone to continue the work in our company in the future since Jackson doesn't seem to be interested in that."

Cristina's breath stuck in her throat when she heard the last sentence. She wasn't even sure whether she wanted kids and Catherine was already planning for them to take over her company? All of sudden it felt too much and Cristina was actually starting to freak out. She didn't want the fate of her hypothetical children to be decided before they were even born.

But Catherine ignored the panicked look on Cristina's face. There were still so many questions she wanted to ask her before the lunch was over. "Well what about your previous relationships? Have you ever been married? Or perhaps engaged?" Catherine asked nonchalantly before taking a sip of her wine.

Cristina shot Jackson an alarmed look when Catherine asked her the question. She didn't have many relationships before she met Jackson. There was nothing she would have to be ashamed of. But talking about her relationship with Burke with someone she barely knew was not something she wanted to do. After all it took her a few months to be able to tell Jackson about it.

"Mum, this is really not appropriate," Jackson said when he saw the look that Cristina gave him. He really didn't want her to be any more uncomfortable than she already was. Even though his attempts to stop his mother's nosey questions were pretty much pointless since she ignored them.

"Oh, c'mon. I'm not asking her about any details. It's not a crime to be a little curious, is it?" Catherine answered in a sweet tone and turned to Cristina, waiting for her answer. To be honest, Catherine wasn't interested in Cristina's previous partners. And she knew it was none of her business. She just wanted to find out how Cristina would react to that question and whether she shared that part of her past with Jackson or not.

"I uh…" Cristina started, hesitating about what she should say when suddenly she felt her phone buzzing in her purse. "I'm sorry. It's from work. I better take it," she said as she looked at the display and saw Meredith's name on it. She knew Meredith probably wasn't calling her because of work but they were colleagues so it wasn't a complete lie either. And at the moment she would take anything to get away from Catherine for at least a little while.

"What are you doing?" Jackson asked when Cristina walked away from the table, feeling embarrassed for his mother and her behavior. "I can see that you don't like her but it doesn't mean you have to be mean and ask her so many personal questions. Can't you see she feels uncomfortable?"

"Who said I don't like her?" Catherine answered with a chuckle.

"You certainly don't make it seem like you do," Jackson said in slightly annoyed tone. Wasn't his mother realizing that Cristina wasn't comfortable when she kept asking her questions she didn't need to know answers to?

"Oh, please. Don't be fooled by my behavior. I think she is a wonderful woman and she really does love you. How could I not like her?" Catherine asked, as if oblivious of how she acted towards Cristina in the past hour.

"But…" Jackson felt confused. If Catherine liked Cristina, then why was she acting the way she did?

"I'm just testing her. If she didn't truly love you, she wouldn't suffer through my attempts to torture her and she would surely say something. But she stayed quiet to make sure the mother of the man she loves likes her," she explained as though it was not a big deal and took another sip of her wine.

"So all of this is just to test her? To see whether she really loves me?" he asked, making sure he understood his mother correctly. He didn't know whether to be relieved that his mother didn't hate Cristina or terrified that she did all of this just to test her.

"Yes." Catherine nodded. "And she's doing more than well."

"This is crazy." Jackson shook his head, not believing his mother could come up with something like this. "You have to stop and tell her the truth."

"But I'm not done yet," Catherine protested.

"Yes, you are. When she comes back you'll tell her everything and apologize. Are we clear?" Jackson tried to keep his voice down, but he was getting angry. He couldn't believe his mother played with Cristina like that.

"Okay." Catherine sighed. She didn't plan to reveal that it was all just a game until she was about to leave, but it seemed like it meant a lot to Jackson. And she would do anything for her son. "It seems like you just proved how much you love her too."

"I do. I really do."

"Thanks God you're calling, Meredith," Cristina said as soon as she picked up the phone, hoping she was far enough from the table for Catherine to hear her. "Is there something going on at work?"

"I'm not calling because of work. I just thought that maybe you could use a phone call that could help you escape if the meeting with Jackson's mother was bad. And from the tone of your voice I assume it's not going that well."

"Well thanks for that. I really wish I could just vanish and pretend this meeting never happened, but I'm afraid that if I left it wouldn't make the situation any better." Cristina sighed. She really wanted to get away from Catherine and her never ending questions, but she didn't want to look like a coward.

"Is it that bad?" Meredith asked. Luckily for her Derek's mother had always been nice and polite to her so she couldn't sympathize with Cristina very well, but she would at least try.

"Depends on whether you think that your boyfriend's mother asking you about your previous relationships or the possibility of you two having kids is bad. But I think it is pretty horrible."

"Oh, that doesn't sound like fun."

"Trust me, it isn't. But I want to impress her and show her that I'm good enough for her son. I can't tell her that it's none of her business to ask me that." Cristina bit her lip, wondering whether there was a way to stop Catherine from asking about all this personal stuff without being rude.

"What about Jackson? How does he react to that?" Meredith asked, hoping that Cristina's boyfriend wasn't on his mother's side.

"Well he's trying to back me up and stop his mother when she's getting too personal, but it's not really working. That woman is tough. No wonder she's such a good lawyer. Everybody admits to their crimes the second she looks at them," she added jokingly.

Meredith laughed. "That's gonna be hard then. Just try to stay polite and only tell her what is necessary. Eventually she'll run out of questions."

"I hope you're right. Because I don't know how long I'll be able to take this. But I guess I better get back to them so it's not too suspicious. I'll talk to you later. Bye." Cristina took a deep breath and slowly walked back to the table where Jackson and his mother were waiting for her.

"Anything important?" Jackson asked when Cristina sat down again.

"Not really." Cristina shook her head. She knew it would be easier to say that something came up at work and she had to leave, but she didn't want to seem like a coward. She could face Jackson's mum for a little longer, couldn't she?

"Well in that case my mother would like to tell you something."

Cristina raised her eyebrows, not knowing what to expect. "Okay."

Catherine took a deep breath, hoping Cristina wouldn't be mad at her once she found out the truth. But it probably couldn't be worse than it already was. "I want to apologize. It was none of my business to ask you all those things and I know that. But I didn't do it because I would hate you. I just wanted to make sure that you really love my son. And since you managed to bear with me, I assume you do. But I guess that I got a bit carried away with all those questions and I admit I pushed it a bit too far. It's none of my business to ask about your past relationship or whether you two will have children. And of course it's not up to me to decide what your children will do in the future. I'm sorry for that."

Cristina's jaw dropped a little as she listened to Catherine. She wasn't sure what to think. On one side she felt incredibly relieved when she found out that Catherine didn't really hate her, but on the other side if it really was just a game it felt a bit cruel. "So this whole thing was just to see whether I'm good enough for Jackson?" Cristina asked still a little confused.

"Pretty much. But let me tell you that you did more than well. You don't seem to get scared easily and it also looks like you really love my son and he couldn't have picked a better woman." She smiled at Cristina, hoping she would forgive her for her little cruel trick. "I really hope he's treating you well because you deserve that."

"I do love him." Cristina smiled at Jackson and took his hand into hers. "And he's been nothing but good to me. You raised a really great person."

"I'm pleased to hear that." Catherine's smile widened. "And so you know I'm sorry for my behavior, you can ask me anything you want to know about Jackson that he didn't want to share with you. I'll tell you every embarrassing little detail about his life."

"Mum, do you really want her to run away? You can't do this to me." Jackson protested, not wanting his mother to embarrass him in front of his girlfriend.

"Don't be a wimp. It can't be that bad, can it?" Cristina asked with a grin.

"Oh, trust me. It is," Catherine laughed. "So where do we start?"

"I still can't get over the fact how you mother played with me today," Cristina said as she dried the last plate from the dinner and put it into a kitchen cabinet in Jackson's apartment. "I really thought she hated me."

"Me neither. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. When I said that she was going to ask you personal questions I didn't think she would take it that far. But I'm glad it was just a game. Even though it was quite cruel," Jackson said as he wrapped his arms around Cristina and pulled her closer to him. "But she did come up with some interesting questions."

"For example?" Cristina cocked her eyebrows, not knowing which question was Jackson talking about. She didn't find any of the questions interesting. More like way too personal.

"The one about kids," he answered simply and carefully watched Cristina's reaction to make sure she didn't feel uncomfortable that he brought up that question again. "I've never been thinking about kids much, but I actually like the idea of a tiny version of you running around here."

"It doesn't sound that bad." Cristina admitted with a smile. As she told his mother, she wasn't sure kids were it for her at the moment. But one day… One day she could imagine having a happy little family with Jackson. "But I'd rather not share you with anyone for a while." She winked at him and pulled him closer to kiss him, but just a second after their lips met Cristina's phone started ringing. "Oh, not now," she groaned as she reluctantly pulled away from Jackson and went to get her phone.

While Cristina talked to whoever it was on the other side of the line, Jackson finished cleaning up the kitchen. "Who was that?" he asked curiously when Cristina hung up, noticing the strange expression on her face.

"My cousin. She works for this company that makes calendars, brochures and stuff like that. They're looking for a photographer for their new project so she offered me the job. It's something like when I was in Africa before."

"That's awesome, Cristina," Jackson said with a huge smile. He wasn't sure what exactly was the offer Cristina had just gotten about, but he was sure it was a big opportunity for her as a photographer.

"Well this time they need photos of Europe, but I'm not sure I'm gonna take that job," she said, biting her lip.

"What? Why not?" Jackson raised his eyebrows, not understanding why Cristina wouldn't want to take such an amazing job offer.

"I'd have to leave for six months."


	16. Chapter 16

“Six months?” Jackson asked, making sure he had heard her properly. It couldn’t be right, could it? Six months was too long. Way too long for them to be apart.  
“Yeah.” Cristina nodded. The look on her face was saying that she wasn’t all that happy about the offer she had received either. Not that she didn’t want to go. She did. Europe was a place she had always wanted to visit and deep down she knew she was waiting for an offer like this. But leaving, what seemed like a perfect life, for so long scared her. And she wasn’t sure she could do it.  
“That’s a long time,” Jackson said, still trying to process the information that his girlfriend was going to leave for half a year.  
“I know,” she whispered, staring at her feet, “But I don’t think I’m gonna take the offer so what’s the matter?”  
“What? No, you have to take it. It could be a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Jackson exclaimed. Even though he didn’t like the thought of not being with Cristina for so long, he knew it was an amazing opportunity for her and there was no way he would let her turn it down.  
“But it’s half a year. I- I can’t leave for that long, can I?” She finally looked up a little surprised that Jackson didn’t even try to stop her from going. Wasn’t he realizing how long they would have to be apart? Wouldn’t he miss her?  
“Cristina.” Jackson stepped closer to her, before taking her hands into his and looking deep into her eyes. “You need to do this for yourself. Because if you don’t, you may regret it one day. And I don’t want you to do that. And while it will be a torture for me not to be with you for so long, you need to give it a go.”  
Cristina bit her lip, thinking about what Jackson said. She knew he was right and that if she didn’t take the opportunity, she would probably regret it one day, but at the same time there was something she couldn’t quite describe that was holding her back. “You could always come with me,” she suggested after a while, looking at him with hope in her eyes.  
“I wish I could but…”  
“But?” Cristina raised her eyebrows, wondering what could be so important that Jackson couldn’t go with her. She knew that he had life other than her in Seattle too and he couldn’t just drop it, but if he really wanted he could come with her, right? Or was she too selfish when she thought that?  
“I kind of got an offer too,” he explained, rubbing the back of his neck as he avoided the eye contact with Cristina. Even though there was no reason, he felt a little guilty. “There is a rich and probably quite important guy and he asked me to make a set of paintings for some sort of charity thing he’s organizing. But they have to be finished in the next few months. And I know that it probably sounds a bit selfish, but it could be a big opportunity for me. So I can’t just leave now.”  
“Wow, that’s amazing.” A huge smiled spread on Cristina face, making her forget about her own offer for a second. She knew that Jackson had been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time and she wouldn’t forgive herself if he gave it up for her. “It’s not selfish. This is a big opportunity for you. But why didn’t you tell me sooner?”  
“I don’t know. I guess I wanted to be hundred percent sure before I told anyone.” Jackson shrugged. “But it looks like it’s really gonna work out,” he said as a tiny smile appeared on his face.  
“I’m so happy for you.” Cristina wrapped her arms around Jackson’s waist and gave him a peck on the lips, smiling proudly.  
“I’m happy for you too,” Jackson said as he lightly stroked Cristina’s cheek, wondering how he could function without her for half a year. As much as he loved painting, she brought a whole new kind of joy to his life. The kind he had never experienced before.  
“So it means you can’t come with me,” Cristina whispered, the sadness apparent in her voice again.  
“As much as I’d want to, I can’t. I need to do this for myself. I don’t want to wake up one day and regret that I didn’t. That wouldn’t do our relationship any good. And that’s why you need to take the offer too, because you never know when the next one will come.”  
“I know.” Cristina sighed and rested her head against Jackson’s chest, quietly listening to his heartbeat as if it could tell her what to do. “But what about us?” she asked after a moment of silence.  
“If you’re asking whether I will still love you even though you’re on a different continent, the answer is yes. And I know it’s gonna be hard, but we can make it through. After all, what’s six months when we have many many years ahead of us.” A small smile appeared on Jackson’s face as he thought of his possible future with Cristina. He knew the following months were going to be difficult for both of them, but he believed their relationship was strong enough to handle it.  
“So you really think it can work even if I leave?” she asked as she looked up at him, the worried expression still not leaving her face.  
“If you want to, we will make it work.”  
“I do. I really do.”

 

That night Cristina kept tossing and turning in her bed, thinking about the offer and not being able to fall asleep. She knew that Jackson was right and that it was an amazing opportunity for her. She would be paid for travelling around Europe and that was many people’s dream. But she wasn’t sure if she could do it. Of course she already went to one of those travels before when she was in Africa, but that was different. Back then she just broke off her engagement with Burke and she had no work or place to live. So when her cousin offered her to go away for half a year to a different continent there was nothing holding her back. But it was different this time. Now she had a great job, an amazing boyfriend, a bunch of friends who cared about her and she wasn’t sure whether going away and risking losing all of this would be worth it.  
“Still thinking about the offer?” Jackson mumbled sleepily. He couldn’t shut his brain off so even though he was really tired he couldn’t fall asleep. And apparently neither could Cristina.  
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to wake you," Cristina apologized. She really didn’t want to bother Jackson with all her worries. But he knew her too well so she couldn’t hide it from him either.  
"That's okay, I can't fall asleep and clearly neither can you," Jackson said and pulled Cristina closer to him. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”  
"How could I?" Cristina sighed, not knowing what to start with. "I just... I don't know what to do."  
"I told you my opinion. I think you should go for it."  
"But I'm scared," she murmured and bit her lip. She hated admitting that she was scared of something. But it was true.   
"Of what?" Jackson asked surprised. He had never heard Cristina say that she was scared of something.  
"That I'll lose everything. That I'll become one of those people who don't appreciate how good their life is and they try to make it better just to ruin everything. I don’t want that to happen to me.” She blurted out quickly, avoiding looking into Jackson’s eyes. She knew she was probably overacting and that maybe her trip to Europe wouldn’t change anything, but she couldn’t shake off the feeling that it may ruin all the things she managed to build for herself in the past few years.  
“Well I don’t know about the other things, but you will definitely not lose me,” he whispered, softly stroking Cristina’s cheek and she snuggled closer to him. Cristina knew that Jackson loved her and that he was willing to wait for her to come back, but she still felt like it was going to be harder than they thought. “And we can still skype every day, I’ll tell you about everything that’s going on. It’ll be like you’re here,” Jackson said, trying to sound as optimistic as he could be. He knew it had to be difficult for Cristina to just leave everything for half a year, but he was sure that once she came back everything would be the same like before. If not better.  
Cristina didn’t say anything for a few minutes, thinking about what Jackson said. Maybe he was right. She wasn’t leaving forever. It was not like she would never see him or her friends again. “I must sound ridiculous now,” she murmured into his chest, slowly starting to regret that she started the conversation. “And selfish.”  
“No, you don’t. You’re allowed to say you like things the way they are right now. And there is nothing wrong about worrying that you will lose the things you love. But in this case you really don’t need to worry about that.” He pressed a soft kiss to Cristina’s temple, trying to comfort her. He understood why she felt scared of leaving for such a long time, but he tried to assure her that there was no need for that. “Instead of thinking about the bad things that this trip may bring, try to think about the good ones. For example if it wasn't for your trip in Africa and the photos you took there we may have never met each other. So this time it may result into something amazing too.” Jackson smiled, trying to find something positive about Cristina’s upcoming trip. “I just hope it won't be meeting another man," he added with laugh, but on the inside he was worried about all the men that were surely going to approach Cristina during the time she was going to be away.  
“I already have my guy here. So even if I met one, he doesn’t stand a chance.” Cristina smiled at Jackson and softly kissed him. She loved how he could make every situation look better. Of course she was still a little worried about how her leaving to Europe would affect her life once she came back, but knowing that Jackson was positive about it made her feel much better.  
“I’m pleased to hear that. Because I don’t know how I could deal with you getting together with some European guy.” Jackson scrunched his nose at the thought of Cristina being with someone else rather than him and she laughed.  
“I love my American guy way too much to do that,” Cristina said as she wrapped her arms around Jackson and rested her head on his chest.  
“I love you too,” Jackson mumbled and a few minutes later, they both fell asleep in a tight embrace.

In the following two weeks, Cristina and Jackson tried to spend as much time together as possible. The day of Cristina’s leaving kept getting closer but neither of them really talked about it. They tried to enjoy going out for dinners and then making love every night. But even though they tried to avoid thinking about it, they both knew it was a form of saying good bye.  
It was a day before Cristina was supposed to leave and she just finished talking to the woman who was going sub for her in the following six months. Cristina hoped the young woman was going to be a good substitute for her during that time, but not too good to take over her job even after she came back.  
“So what do you think about her?” Jackson asked when Cristina walked out of her office.  
“She’s okay.” Cristina shrugged her shoulders, not being sure what to say. “Not as good as I am, but she’ll do while I’m gone.”  
“Oh, how I’m gonna miss the self-esteem when you’re gone,” Jackson said and wrapped his arm around Cristina’s waist as they walked down the hallway.  
“Is that all you’re gonna miss?” Cristina pouted and raised her eyebrows.  
“You know there is much, much more,” Jackson whispered as he leaned over to kiss her. He couldn’t put into words how much he was going to miss her, but he didn’t want to bother with it until it was completely necessary. He wanted to enjoy the last few moments he had left with Cristina before she would have to leave the next day.  
“Have you seen Meredith? I wanted to talk to her and say goodbye in case I won’t have time to see her tomorrow, but I can’t find her anywhere.” Cristina asked when Jackson pulled away, wondering where her best friend was when she needed her. There was no way she would leave without saying goodbye to her so why was she making it so difficult for her?  
“I haven’t seen her.” Jackson shrugged. “Have you tried looking in the conference room?”  
“Why would she be in the conference room?” Cristina gave him a confused look.  
“I don’t know. Just try,” he said and lightly pushed her down the hallway to the conference room. Cristina still didn’t understand what he was doing, but she assumed she could at least take a look. And if Meredith wasn’t there she would have to call her. But there was no way she was leaving without saying a proper goodbye to her.  
“This better not be just a way to make me have sex with you at work. We’ve been over this and it can’t happen again. We could both get in trouble for that,” Cristina murmured as she walked down the hall, wondering where all her friends and colleagues were. “By the way where is everyone?” she asked. “I’m not saying I want people to cry because I’m leaving for a few months, but a simple “We’ll miss you here.” wouldn’t hurt.” Jackson just gave Cristina another shrug and followed her.  
“Surprise!” everyone in the room yelled once Cristina opened the door to the conference room and her jaw dropped a little in surprise.  
“Wh- What is this?” Cristina asked confused when she saw everyone in the room cheering and clapping. Of course she knew what all those people were doing there, but she couldn’t believe it was true. Not after she just complained that nobody was there to say goodbye to her. But not it was all starting to make sense.  
“It’s a goodbye party,” Meredith explained with a huge smile. “Well you’re not leaving forever so it’s not really a goodbye party. More like a ‘see you later’ party.”  
“Just when I thought that nobody wanted to say goodbye to me,” Cristina whispered, blinking a few times to stop the tears from building in her eyes. She had never been the kind of person who would get emotional about gestures like this, but when she saw that all her friends and coworkers gathered to make a party and say goodbye to her, she had hard time holding her tears back.  
“Oh, don’t be silly. There is no way we would let you leave without saying a proper goodbye to you.” Meredith laughed as she pulled her best friend in for a hug and for once Cristina didn’t mind at all.  
“Wait, did you know about this?” Cristina asked when she pulled away from Meredith, turning back to Jackson.  
“Of course I knew. Why do you think I brought you to the conference room?” Jackson laughed and wrapped his arms around Cristina, pressing a light kiss to her lips.  
“Well at least that explains your strange behavior.” She grinned at him.  
“Now that’s clear, let’s have some fun,” Meredith said and grabbed Cristina’s hand, pulling her towards the rest of their colleagues. They definitely needed to make the day memorable.

“I can’t believe they gave you the gate pass just like that.” Cristina laughed as Jackson walked her to the boarding gate. It was the day of her leaving and the time she had left in Seattle was getting much shorter with every minute she spent at the airport. “I thought you needed a special reason for that.”  
“Well, what can I say? Looking good does have its benefits.” Jackson grinned at her. He knew that he and Cristina only had a few minutes together left before she would leave to the other side of the country and he was trying to enjoy every second of it. Even if he had to use his good looks to get him the gate pass so he could walk Cristina to the plane as close as possible. “And I would do anything to be with you for a tiny bit longer,” he added with a sad smile.  
“So I guess this is it. The final goodbye.” Cristina sighed, the sadness apparent in her voice. Sure, she was excited to see Europe, but the last couple of months she spent with Jackson were some of the happiest months in her life and she couldn’t imagine what it was going to be like without him by her side.  
“It will be better than we think. You’ll see,” Jackson tried to reassure her and pulled her into a tight long hug. “I love you, Cristina. That’s one thing that’s never gonna change no matter where you are,” he whispered before pulling away slightly and stroking her cheek with his thumb.  
“I love you too,” Cristina replied fighting with the tears that were forming in the back of her eyes. They stood there in silence for a few minutes, just staring at each other and enjoying each other’s presence before Jackson leaned over, capturing Cristina’s lips with his. She immediately responded and the kiss quickly turned from slow and soft to passionate and full of emotions they weren’t able to put into words. They completely lost track of time and if it wasn’t for the voice that was telling the passengers of Cristina’s flight to get on the plane, they probably wouldn’t pull away from each other anytime soon.  
“I guess I really have to go now,” Cristina said breathlessly as she pulled away from Jackson, blinking a few times to stop the tears in her eyes from falling.  
“Yeah, I guess.” Jackson sighed, not wanting to let go off her just yet, but he knew he had no choice. “Take care of yourself,” he said, trying to put an encouraging smile on his face. “And call me once you get there.”  
“I will.” Cristina took one more glance of Jackson before she turned around, walking towards the gate. It is going to be a difficult six months. She thought as a tear rolled down her cheek.


	17. Chapter 17

It was 3 am in Seattle and Jackson kept starring at the ceiling in his bedroom, unable to fall asleep. Cristina's plane was supposed to land in London about four hours ago and he was anxiously waiting for her to call him. He knew it may take her a while to get to the hotel, but four hours was a long time and he was getting worried. He was just about to find a phone number to the hotel to find out what was going on, when his cell phone started buzzing on the night stand.

"Hello?" he replied as quickly as he could.

"Hey, Jackson, it's me," Cristina said in a sleepy voice, rubbing her eyes.

"Oh, thank God." Jackson let out a sigh of relief when he heard Cristina's voice. "I was getting worried when you didn't call. Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm sorry for scaring you. I was so tired when I got to the hotel room so I lay on the bed, thinking nothing would happen if I closed my eyes for a few seconds before calling you, but I fell asleep," she said apologetically. She really didn't want to scare Jackson and she couldn't wait to talk to him again, but her tiredness was stronger. "But how come you picked up so quickly? It's like 3 am in Seattle. Aren't you sleeping?"

"How could I sleep when I didn't know whether you're alright?" Jackson asked with a chuckle, trying to lighten up the situation. A few minutes ago, he was really worried but now everything was good again. Or at least as good as it could be when his girlfriend was on a different continent than he was.

"Sorry about that."

"No, it's okay. Don't worry about it anymore. I'm just glad you're safe," Jackson reassured her. He didn't want her to feel guilty for something as trivial as being tired after spending so much time on a plane. "So how was the flight?"

"Ugh, long. And uncomfortable." Cristina sighed as she remembered the flight to London. It had been such a long time since she traveled so far and she had forgotten how horrible those long flights could be. "I'm so tired, but it's like noon here so if I go to sleep I'll be even more jet lagged than I already am." She groaned, wondering whether she should sleep some more or just get through the day despite being tired.

"I wish I was there with you," Jackson said with a sigh. Cristina had barely left and he already missed her like crazy. He had no idea how he could survive half a year without her. "I would get you some food and then I would cuddle you while you took a nap."

"I wish you were here too," Cristina whispered with sadness in her voice. She missed Jackson a lot and she hoped during the time she was going to be away she would keep herself occupied with her work, but she knew that she was also going to have a lot of free time that she will just spend missing him. "And not just because my stomach is growling really badly."

"I guess you should go grab some food then. It may not be as good as the food I cook for you, but I don't want you starve."

"We'll see about that." Cristina laughed. She had to admit that Jackson's cooking was indeed wonderful, but she hoped that the food in European hotels where she was going to eat for the next few months would be at least as good. "And you should get some sleep."

"Yeah I guess that would be a good idea. Talk to you later?" Jackson asked, looking forward the next time he was going to talk to Cristina.

"Sure. I'll call you in the evening," she replied, quickly counting in her head when would be the ideal time to call Jackson. She hated how complicated the time difference made things, but she couldn't do anything about it.

"I'll be looking forward to it."

"Me too." Cristina smiled. "Good night. I love you."

 

"I love you too," he whispered and hung up. Hopefully now he could finally get to sleep.

"Can you hear me?" Jackson asked instead of saying hello after he finally managed to start a Skype call with Cristina. He had been trying to set it up for the last half an hour but for some reason he kept failing.

"I can hear you but I can't see your pretty face." Cristina giggled. She knew that Jackson wasn't all that into technology but she didn't expect him to take so long to make a simple Skype call. It had been two days since she arrived to London and so far she and Jackson only talked through phone so she was excited to see his face again.

"I'm working on it," Jackson said with his tongue stuck out a little as he browsed through the program's settings clicking on random buttons he didn't understand and hoping one of them would do what he wanted it to do. Cristina offered to help him, but he insisted that it couldn't be so hard and he could do it on his own. But the program seemed more complicated than he first thought. He kept trying different setting when suddenly his face popped out at the bottom of the screen and his lips curled into a wide grin. "I told you I could do it on my own."

"It was about time. I was getting worried that your stubbornness wouldn't allow me to see you in the following six months at all." She stuck out her tongue at him, teasing him some more, but on the inside she was more than happy that she could finally see him. After all it was the closest interaction they could have in the next few months.

"Don't worry I wouldn't do that to you." Jackson winked at her. He was also really happy to be able to see Cristina. Even though it was only through web camera. But at least it made him feel like they weren't thousands of miles away from each other. He still felt a little bad and selfish for choosing his work instead of going to Europe with Cristina but they both decided that it was something they had to do for their careers. Even though it wasn't easy for their relationship. "Is that my shirt?" Jackson asked all of sudden when he caught a glimpse of the oversized grey shirt that Cristina was wearing.

"Well..." Cristina's face turned red when she realized she was still wearing Jackson's college shirt over her pajamas. She didn't want him to know she took it with her so it would make her feel like he was there with her. It was too cheesy. And Cristina didn't do cheesy things. But earlier that evening she felt a bit lonely and as weird as it sounded, putting on Jackson's shirt made her feel a little bit better. So she was glad she took it with her after all. But she still felt a little embarrassed that Jackson found out about it.

"It's cute." Jackson smiled. He could see that Cristina seemed a little embarrassed, but he found that adorable. "Actually I miss the times when you were wearing my clothes all the time."

"Well it was your idea that I start leaving my stuff at your place." Cristina grinned at him as she remembered the day they had the conversation.

_3 months ago_

" _Good morning, beautiful," Jackson said with a smile when he entered his kitchen and pressed a soft kiss to Cristina's lips. It was one of the many times that Cristina spent at his place, but it felt just as amazing as the first time._

" _Good morning." Cristina smiled back at him. She always used to be quite grumpy and quiet in the morning, sending death stares to anyone who tried to talk to her, but falling asleep and waking up in Jackson's arms did wonders to her. Or perhaps his bed was just more comfortable than hers. "I made you coffee." She pointed to the cup on the kitchen counter._

" _Why, thank you," Jackson said and took a sip of his coffee before pouring some cereal and milk in a bowl and joining Cristina at the table._

_They had been sitting quietly for a few minutes, enjoying their morning coffee and breakfast, when Cristina noticed a playful smirk on Jackson's face as he stared at her. "Do I have something on my face?" she asked, wondering why was Jackson looking at her like that._

" _No, you look gorgeous," he replied and Cristina felt a slight blush creep up her cheeks. She had never been the kind of woman who would blush easily, but she had also never had a boyfriend that would compliment her like Jackson did. "I'm just thinking."_

" _About… me?" she asked hesitantly._

" _Yeah." Jackson nodded. "I was just thinking about how hot you look when you wear my T-shirts." He grinned. "And it's not just because it reveals so much of your beautiful legs," he added with laugh._

" _Stop it." Cristina smacked his arm playfully, knowing that her face must've been bright red by now. Even though Jackson had been complimenting her all the time she still hadn't gotten used to it. "That is already way too many compliments for one morning."_

" _Well it's true." He shrugged and gave her a beaming smile. "But even though I really enjoy you wearing my clothes have you thought of… maybe… leaving some of your stuff here?" Jackson asked nervously, hoping Cristina understood what he was trying to tell her and that she didn't feel like he was pushing her too much. He knew they hadn't been dating for too long and he was worried he would do something stupid and ruin their relationship, but at the same time he felt like it was time to take this step. Especially since Cristina seemed so comfortable in his apartment and spent a lot of time there._

" _Are you asking me to bring some of my stuff into your apartment?" Cristina asked a bit surprised, but also pleased. This wasn't the first time that leaving some of her things at Jackson's place crossed her mind. After all it seemed like she spent more time there than in her own apartment. But she assumed it might be a little too soon to bring up this topic so she kept it to herself. At least until know._

" _Only if you agree," Jackson said, trying to let Cristina know that he wasn't pushing her into anything. As much as he wanted her to agree._

" _Well…" Cristina made a dramatic pause. "Why not?" She shrugged her shoulders and gave Jackson a big smile._

" _So you agree?" Jackson asked a little surprised. He was quite nervous about asking Cristina, but it went much easier than he expected._

" _Of course. How could I say no to a man who gives me so many compliments?" She laughed. "I was actually thinking about it myself, but I waited for you to suggest it. I don't want to seem so pushy. After all this is your apartment."_

" _I had no idea. I was so nervous because I didn't want it to seem like I was pushing you into that if you weren't ready. I love having you here as much as I can," Jackson said and took Cristina's hand in his, giving it a small kiss before looking up again with a wide smile._

" _Well you don't have to be afraid anymore because I'm totally ready." Cristina smiled back at him. If a couple of months ago someone told her that she would be moving some of her stuff to her boyfriend's apartment after only dating for four months, she would laugh. But for some reason with Jackson everything seemed so much easier. "I've been spending a lot of time here lately and I hate when I'm sleeping over but then have to get up earlier to go home and get changed. We could use that time to do something more fun." She winked at him and Jackson laughed._

" _We definitely could."_

"Well it was a pretty good idea," Jackson said with laugh. "But I was so nervous about asking you."

"It gave us time for some more entertaining activities." Cristina bit her bottom lip, smirking at Jackson. "Much more entertaining." She knew that teasing Jackson like this when she knew they wouldn't be able to touch each other for months was cruel, but she couldn't help it. They could talk every day, see each other through camera or exchange pictures, but there was one thing they couldn't do. They couldn't touch each other and Cristina knew it was going to drive her crazy. It had only been less than three days but she already missed his lips on hers, his hands roaming over her body and his smell that would soon disappear from that shirt she brought with her. Of course that wasn't all their relationship was about, but just feeling Jackson close to her always made Cristina feel much better.

"So how was your day?" Jackson asked, pulling Cristina out of her thoughts.

"It was great," she replied with a genuine smile, trying to push the thoughts about how much she missed Jackson away and enjoying the time she could spend with him. Because seeing each other through a webcamera was better than not seeing each other at all. And at the moment it would have to be enough.


	18. Chapter 18

It had been almost three months since Cristina had left to Europe and she and Jackson quickly created a routine. During the day they sent each other messages and photos and every evening they talked on Skype until Cristina eventually fell asleep or until Jackson had to get back to work. Cristina was taking thousands of photos all around Europe while Jackson was working on his paintings as much as he could to finish them on time. Their work was keeping them busy enough to think too much about the fact that they hadn't seen each other for so long. And while they missed each other a lot, it seemed to work.

But now it had been three days since Cristina last spoke to Jackson and she was getting worried. He messaged her that he was busy and that he would let her know once he had more time, but she was afraid that not having enough time wasn't the only reason why they hadn't talked for a few days. She was afraid that Jackson realized that only seeing his girlfriend through Skype wasn't enough for him anymore. She tried to push those thoughts away, but it wasn't that easy. She felt like something was different but she wasn't sure what it was. So she really hoped Jackson would call her in the evening and she could find out what was going on. After all today was Cristina's birthday and even though she had never been into celebrating nor she found that day special, she knew that Jackson loved birthdays. And if he didn't find time to talk to her on her birthday then it would be a sign that something really was wrong. Because she knew Jackson well and even though she told him she didn't want big celebrations or surprises, she was sure he would at least attempt to do something like that. She still clearly remembered how they celebrated Jackson's birthday and despite the disastrous start it was a really good day.

" _I thought you said you can't cook," Jackson said as he walked into Cristina's kitchen, surprised when he saw her preparing breakfast that was more difficult than pouring some cereals and milk into a bowl like she usually did. They had only been dating for little over two months but the fact that Cristina couldn't cook was one of the first things she told him about herself ._

" _Good morning to you too." She grinned at him, ignoring the sarcastic remark about her cooking skills. Even though it was true. "And just because I can't really cook doesn't mean I can't try. Besides, making pancakes doesn't really count as cooking."_

" _Oh, really? What is it then?" Jackson asked with a smirk as he walked behind Cristina, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her cheek._

" _It's preparing breakfast," she answered, while trying to find out whether the pancake were done or not. "But if you keep distracting me like this, I'll ruin your special birthday breakfast." Cristina giggled when she felt Jackson's lips move from her cheek to her neck._

" _So that's what this is all about? My birthday?" Jackson asked a little surprised that Cristina remembered his birthday, but also really pleased. Not that he thought she was the kind of person who didn't remember important dates. But Cristina told him that she wasn't into big celebrations or romantic gestures so he didn't expect her to do much. Perhaps just some hot birthday sex._

" _Of course. Why do you think I'm making you pancakes?" Cristina asked, rolling her eyes. She could hear the surprised tone in Jackson's voice, but then again she could've expected it after she told him that she wasn't a big fan of birthdays or any huge celebrations for that matter. But that mostly applied to her own birthday and there was no way she was going to ignore Jackson's big day. Especially since she knew he enjoyed that kind of attention._

" _I was thinking it's just because you love me." He laughed and kissed her again._

" _I do. But there are much easier ways to show you that than making pancakes." She winked at him and put the last pancake on the plate. "Now sit down, sir, you're breakfast is almost ready," Cristina said and pulled out some maple syrup, nutella and some chopped strawberries from her fridge, carrying everything to the table. She really didn't have much experience with making pancakes, but she hoped it was easy enough even for her and that it would taste good._

" _It looks delicious." Jackson smiled, seeing how proud yet nervous Cristina looked about the food she prepared for him. He quickly put some of the strawberries and nutella on the pancakes, coating it with some maple syrup and took a huge bite of it. He knew that Cristina never cooked but he assumed it was just because she didn't enjoy doing it and that saying she can't cook was just an excuse. At least from most part. But once he tasted the pancake he knew she wasn't lying. He couldn't quite describe the taste, but he was sure it was not what pancakes should taste like. But when he saw the proud look on Cristina face, he decided not to say anything and continue eating._

" _So? What is it like?" she asked, anxiously awaiting Jackson's response._

" _It's… Good," Jackson said and forced a smile on his face before sticking another fork full of pancakes to his mouth and barely chewing it before quickly swallowing it._

" _Really?" Cristina raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Let me taste it."_

" _I thought these were my special birthday pancakes. But if you want some I can make you your own." Jackson tried to stop Cristina from tasting the pancakes she made for him and realizing they didn't taste good at all and that he lied to her._

" _I don't want my own. I just want to see how I did. Don't worry I won't eat it all." She grinned at him._

" _I'm not worried about that," Jackson murmured, ready to tell her that the pancakes didn't taste as good as he told her, but it was too late because Cristina was already putting a forkful into her mouth._

" _Oh, God." She screwed her face once the piece of pancake hit her tongue. "It tastes like paper," she said once she spat it out. "Burned paper."_

" _My mum told me that when I was little I secretly used to eat paper." Jackson shrugged his shoulders and smirked at Cristina, hoping she wouldn't find her little cooking disaster too tragic. Sure he would be happier if what Cristina cooked for him was actually edible, but he was happy she even tried to do something like this for him._

" _That doesn't make this any better." Cristina frowned and took the plate, angrily throwing the pancakes into the trash can. She really just wanted to surprise Jackson with something nice, but now she just felt stupid for trying to cook for him when she clearly had no idea how to properly do it. She always told herself that her cooking was bad because she didn't really want to do it and didn't put much effort into it, but today she actually tried and failed. Which made her feel worse about it._

_Jackson saw that Cristina looked upset about her little surprise for him not working out the way she wanted it to and he felt a bit guilty about it. After all if he didn't tell her how much he liked celebrating his birthday she probably wouldn't try to make breakfast for him. "Oh, c'mon. It's not a big deal. I liked your little surprise," Jackson said as he walked towards Cristina and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. "Even though it didn't work out the way you wanted it to."_

" _I just wanted to do something nice for you. Something different. But I guess I screwed it up," Cristina mumbled against Jackson's chest. She wasn't used to failing or not being good at something. She always found a way to succeed. So her little birthday surprise for Jackson not going the way she wanted upset her more than she wanted._

" _It's the thought that counts. And I know that you don't like celebrating birthday so I appreciate it even more." Jackson tried to cheer Cristina up a little. Even though the pancakes tasted horrible, he was still really happy about what Cristina tried to do for him._

" _I don't like celebrating my own birthday. That's a difference. But now I'm ruining your day. And I didn't want to do that," she said with her face still buried in Jackson's chest._

" _That's not true. I love every day I get to spend with you. And even though today seems to have a bit of a rocky start, I'm sure we can still make it my best birthday ever." Jackson smiled. He knew he sounded a bit cheesy, but it was true. He loved Cristina and he enjoyed every second he spent with her. Even if it included eating burned pancakes. "How about we go to that nice restaurant we went to on our first proper date?" Jackson suggested. "The food was delicious and the place is really nice too. I don't think anything bad can happen there."_

" _That actually sounds good. I'll call there to make a reservation for tonight." A small smile appeared on Cristina's face again. Maybe she could still turn the situation around and do something nice for Jackson._

_Later that day Cristina and Jackson headed to the restaurant they both thoroughly enjoyed when they visited it on their first date._

" _I can't believe we haven't been here since our first date. The food here is delicious," Jackson said once the waiter left their table with completely empty plates. "I don't have any space left in me so I'm kinda glad we didn't order any dessert."_

" _Yeah, we definitely need to come here more often." Cristina smiled. She was happy that unlike the breakfast, their dinner was running smoothly. The food was even better than she remembered, the waiter taking care of their food was very nice and polite and the quiet music playing in the background was quite enjoyable too. "But as for the dessert, you may want to find some space for it." She grinned at him and turned around to see three waiters coming their way, holding a small chocolate cake and singing happy birthday._

" _What do you…" Jackson tried to ask what was Cristina talking about, but his question got interrupted by loud singing. "Oh my God." His jaw dropped slightly when he realized what was going on. The cake and singing was meant for him. He felt like he was in a movie and it felt good._

_"I know that it's cheesy as hell and I would never want you to do anything like this for my birthday but I thought you would like this," Cristina said once the waiters left their table. Earlier that day when she offered to make a reservation in the restaurant for them, Cristina decided to ask whether they could make a little birthday cake for her boyfriend's birthday. She knew it was a really overused cheesy gesture, but she was sure that Jackson liked that kind of stuff. And as it seemed, she was right. "And I wanted to make up for that horrible burned pancakes I made you eat this morning," she added with a bit of embarrassment in her voice. She wouldn't forget about that anytime soon and as she knew Jackson, he would gladly remind it to her._

_"I love it," Jackson replied with a huge smile and leaned over to give Cristina a kiss. He really didn't expect anything like this and the fact that Cristina came up with this idea for him made him even happier than he already was. "Not as much as I love you though."_

" _That's so cheesy." Cristina laughed, but on the inside she couldn't be happier that Jackson liked her little surprise. This one definitely seemed to be a bigger success than the one she prepared for him earlier that day. "But since it's your birthday I'll allow you to be cheesy. Now blow out the candles and wish for something you want."_

" _I already have everything I want. So I'll just wish it stays that way," Jackson said, took a deep breath and blew up the candles._

Cristina sighed at the memory of Jackson's birthday. Maybe you really weren't supposed to say your wish out loud or it wouldn't come true. Because right now things definitely didn't seem to be the same. Jackson was thousands of miles away from her and she was afraid it wasn't the only thing between them that changed. She let out another loud sigh and rubbed her face with her hands. There was no time to think about whether there was something wrong between her and Jackson. It was not why she came to Europe. And if her work was really going to cost her her relationship with Jackson at least she should focus on it.

 

"Happy birthday!" Meredith yelled the second she accepted Cristina's call on Skype. Cristina logged in about the same time as usually, hoping that Jackson would be online and she could finally talk to him and perhaps even ask him what was going on between them. But unfortunately Jackson's name in her contact list was gray, which meant that he wasn't there. Or at least he was not visible for her. However Meredith was online, so Cristina though she would at least talk to her best friend for a bit, while hoping that Jackson would show up.

"No, don't do that. Don't make a big deal out of this day just because it happens to be the day I was born a couple of years ago. It's no different than any other day," Cristina said, trying to stop Meredith from talking about her birthday. For some reason Cristina didn't like celebrating that day. And she hated when people made a big deal out of it. But the most ironic thing was, that the whole day she was hoping for Jackson to call her and make a big deal out of her birthday. Because then she would at least know that he still cares and thinks about her. But apparently he was avoiding her and as much as she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Okay, okay." Meredith put her hands up in surrender. "I was just trying to be nice. Sorry for that," she apologized and grinned at her best friend. "So how are you?" Meredith asked, seeing that Cristina didn't look exactly happy, but she didn't want to ask. Despite being best friends, they didn't often ask each other about their feelings. If the other person wanted to talk about it, they would.

They talked for a few minutes, Meredith telling Cristina about everything that had happened at work in the past few days while Cristina briefly told Meredith about how she enjoyed staying in Berlin. It was truly a beautiful city and there was a lot to talk about, but even though Cristina was talking to Meredith, she couldn't stop thinking about Jackson and all the possible reasons why he was ignoring her.

"Have you seen Jackson today?" Cristina asked all of sudden while Meredith was telling her about an article that she was working on. Cristina didn't want to tell Meredith about her worries because she was afraid she would sound ridiculous, but at the same time she knew that Meredith was her best friend. If there was anyone that she could talk to about this, it was her. And Cristina had to talk about it with someone or she wouldn't be able to focus on anything else.

"Why?" Meredith answered with another question. She wondered whether Jackson was the reason why Cristina's mind seemed to be somewhere else the whole time they talked.

"It's just…" Cristina didn't know where to start. She didn't want to sound too clingy. She knew that Jackson had his own life. His own work. He couldn't sit in front of his computer all day, waiting for her to call him. But she also knew there was something going on. She just couldn't quite put her finger on it. And she hoped Meredith could help her. "We've barely talked for the past few days," she let out a loud sigh. "Before I left we said we would be able to handle it. The long distance relationship. But it's harder than we though. And what if… What if he wants to break up with me? What if he's avoiding talking to me just because he's polite enough to not break up with me on my birthday?" Cristina sounded almost desperate when she thought about the possibility of her and Jackson breaking up. They both knew that being separated for so long was going to be a big challenge, but none of them thought that maybe they really couldn't make it. "I know I might be overacting, but I just can't stop thinking about it. I don't want to lose him."

"Cristina…" Meredith took a deep breath, trying to come up with some words of comfort for her friend. It was not going to be easy because she couldn't speak for Jackson, but she was more than sure that he was not going to break up with Cristina. But it was not something she could prove. "Maybe he is just busy. Jackson would never break up with you, okay?"

"How can you be so sure?" Cristina asked. She hated when people were trying to comfort her, telling her everything was going to be okay, even though they knew nothing about her situation. Or at least that's what she thought.

"I just know. Whatever reason he has for not talking you so much lately, I'm pretty sure he can explain it to you. So just don't give up." Meredith tried to cheer up her best friend a little, but she could see it wasn't working very much. She knew very well that someone telling you that things were going to be alright wasn't really helpful. But it was all she could for Cristina at the moment.

"You sound too optimistic. Way too optimistic for you." Cristina scrunched her face, wondering what was going on with Meredith. Cristina wasn't the most optimistic person in the world. Actually she was far from it. And so was Meredith. And while Meredith was getting more bright and shiny ever since her daughter was born, this behavior still seemed a bit unnatural to Cristina.

"Maybe you should try being a little optimistic too." Meredith winked at her and smiled.

Cristina was just about to say that she was not shiny and optimistic person, when she was interrupted by a slight knock on her hotel room door. "Someone is knocking so I need to go and take a look. I'll call you later. Bye." Cristina clicked the red button to end the call and reluctantly got up from the bed. She didn't remember ordering any room service so she was curious to know who was bothering her at such a late hour.  _They better have a good reason to come here now._  She thought to herself as she opened the door, freezing when she saw who it was. "Jackson?" Cristina's mouth dropped open in shock when she saw her boyfriend standing in the doorway with a bright smile on his face.


	19. Chapter 19

"Happy birthday," Jackson said with a smile, before lifting Cristina in his arms and pressing their lips together in a long passionate kiss. It had only been about three months since they last kissed at the airport, but to Jackson it felt like eternity.

After their lips finally separated again, Jackson put Cristina back on her feet. He noticed little tears in the corners of her eyes, but he didn't say anything and just smiled before pulling her closer to him and giving her a tight hug.

"Wh- what are you doing here?" Cristina asked with a trembling voice and still couldn't believe that Jackson was actually there. Just a few minutes ago she was worried he wanted to break up with her and now he was holding her tightly in his arms again like she never left. Suddenly the need to ask him all the questions about why he was so distant lately and why he hadn't spoken to her at all in the past few days disappeared. They were not important. Not now at least. All she wanted to do at the moment was to be close to him. As close as physically possible.

"I missed you too much and I couldn't stay away from you any longer," he replied with smile, acting as if coming to see Cristina only took him five minutes. But to him it didn't matter whether she was next door or on the other side of the world. Once he decided to see her, nothing would stop him. "Besides, nobody should spend their birthday alone."

"Well in that case you made it just in time." Cristina laughed as she glanced at the clock on the bedside table that showed it was almost midnight.

"Then I shouldn't waste another second." Jackson winked at her and lifted her in his arms again. Cristina squealed and laughed as she tightened her arms around Jackson's neck while he carried her towards the bed. They missed each other so much they were unable to put it into words. But there was no need for words now. They spent months only talking and not being able to touch each other as they both wanted so much. So now was finally the time to make up for that.

There was no much need of foreplay since they were both extremely aroused from the moment their lips met again. They quickly stripped each other, separating their lips only when it was completely necessary, while their hands wandered over each other bodies, touching and stroking all the right places. As the last piece of clothing hit the floor, Jackson spread Cristina's legs and quickly entered her, making them both gasp at the same time. In the past few weeks they had spent so much time fantasizing about what it was going to be like once they were going to be together again but the reality was even better. And even hotter.

The next few minutes were filled with silent groans and sweet whispers but also with loud moans and screams full of pleasure. All their emotions coming out in series of satisfied noises.

It didn't take too long before they both climaxed, collapsing next to each other, covered with sweat and silly smiles on their faces as if they were two teenagers that slept together for the first time.

"God, I didn't even realize how much I needed this," Cristina said, still trying to catch her breath as she rolled to her side, supporting her head with her hand.

"Me neither." Jackson smiled and stuck one of Cristina's curls behind her ear, before leaning over and softly kissing her. "But that's not the only reason I'm here."

"Speaking of which," Cristina started as she pulled up the blanket up to her chest and sat up. "How come you're here and I had no clue you were coming until I opened the door and saw you standing there." She motioned her hand towards the door, still not believing it happened just a couple of minutes ago. Less than an hour ago she was talking to Meredith on the verge of crying because she thought Jackson wanted to break up with her. And now he was lying next to her like nothing ever happened. And while Cristina was beyond happy about her boyfriend being with her again, she still didn't understand what exactly happened.

"I told you. I missed you. And I thought you shouldn't be alone on your birthday." Jackson shrugged his shoulders as if travelling half way across the world to see his girlfriend was the simplest thing he could do for her.

"But… How? And when? Why didn't you let me know? Do you have any what was going on in my head when you didn't talk to me for two days? I thought you wanted to break up with me," Cristina said, not being satisfied with Jackson's answer. Sure, she was happy that he came, but there were way too many questions that were still occupying her mind and she wouldn't stop nagging him about it until he answered them all.

"I… I never realized that. I wanted to surprise you for your birthday. I was making some last minute arrangements so I could leave and I knew you would see there is something going on so instead of lying to you I thought I just wouldn't talk to you for a few days. I'm so sorry it made you think that I wanted to break up with you. I would never do that. I love you way too much and I hope you know it," Jackson said apologetically and pulled Cristina closer to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her. Suddenly he felt so guilty for not thinking about how Cristina would feel once he decided to stop talking to her for a couple of days, so he would not spoil the surprise. The whole time he was looking forward to the moment he would see her again and it never even crossed his mind, that keeping Cristina in the dark may not be the best idea.

"It's okay," Cristina mumbled into Jackson's chest, not wanting to admit how worried she actually was about the possibility of him breaking up with her. She didn't want it to seem like she was overacting. "But you have to promise me to not pull something like that on me again."

"Cross my heart hope to die." Jackson smiled and gave Cristina a light kiss. He really was sorry for his plan not working out the way he wanted it to, but it was too late to change it now. "Is there a way to make it up to you?"

"Hmmm." Cristina looked up at Jackson with a tiny smirk on her face. "There is one. And it starts with us getting a shower together." She winked at him and got up from of the bed, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the bathroom with her. It would take a lot of steamy sex for her to forget about the incident, but she was going to enjoy every second of it.

"You know that watching someone sleep is creepy, right?" Cristina mumbled with her eyes still closed. She had woken up a couple of minutes ago and ever since then she felt Jackson's eyes on her.

"It's not creepy if you're just admiring how beautiful your girlfriend is. And also you're clearly not asleep." Jackson smiled and softly kissed Cristina on the lips. He missed doing that in the morning so much. "Good morning by the way."

"Good morning," she replied and finally opened her eyes as she rolled over and rested her chin on Jackson's bare chest, looking up at him with a smile. She was not an early bird but waking up next to her naked boyfriend made mornings much better. "You drifted off like a baby last night," Cristina said with laugh. Once they finished a rather hot shower together, they lay in the bed and Jackson immediately fell asleep before they even had a chance to talk some more. But she couldn't blame him. After all when she arrived to Europe sleeping was all she wanted to do.

"Sorry about that. I was really tired from the travelling and you took care of drowning out the last of my energy." Jackson laughed as he remembered the previous night and the intense love making in the shower.

"Well we haven't been together for three months. You really couldn't expect me to wait until morning." Cristina grinned at him.

"I don't blame you. I couldn't wait either. We still have a lot of making up to do," he said and pressed another kiss to her lips. He missed doing that so much.

"Well how much time we have for that?" Cristina asked as she pulled away a little. Jackson still didn't tell her much about his visit of Europe and she was more than curious. "Because you still haven't told me when you're leaving. Not that I'm looking forward it," she added the last sentence to not make Jackson think she wasn't happy to have him there. She definitely was, but she was also kind of scared of the moment he was going to leave again. Saying goodbye once was hard enough.

"I haven't told you because… I'm not leaving," Jackson answered simply and a small smile appeared on his face. He couldn't wait to tell this to Cristina and see her reaction.

"What?" Cristina's eyes wide opened, not being sure whether she heard it correctly or whether it was just the answer she wanted to hear. She wanted Jackson to stay more than anything, but that wasn't realistic, was it? Jackson had his work back in Seattle. His paintings he had to finish. It was the reason why he couldn't go with her in the first place.

"You don't seem really happy," Jackson said, a bit taken aback by Cristina's reaction. It was not what he expected.

"I'm just shocked. I was mentally preparing myself that eventually you'll leave again. But now that I know you won't and I couldn't be happier about it." A huge smile spread across her face as the initial shock faded away a bit. She really didn't want it to seem like she wasn't happy about Jackson staying with her for the rest of her trip around Europe. After all it was all she wished for ever since she got the offer. And now it was finally coming true. "I thought you still had those paintings to finish."

"Yeah, well it turned out that with you on the other side of the world, I had too much free time to kill and I finished the paintings much sooner than I expected," he explained.

"Are you saying I'm slowing you down?" Cristina glared at him, suppressing laugh as she tried to look mad.

"No. I'm just saying that with you around I have much more entertaining but less productive things to do," Jackson whispered as he sneaked his arms around Cristina.

"Well now that you're here, we can do a lot of those entertaining things," Cristina said and winked at him playfully, running her hand up his chest.

"We definitely can." Jackson laughed as he pressed Cristina to the bed again, kissing her and wondering how he survived three months without her.

"Dear lord, these pancakes are delicious," Jackson mumbled with full mouth after he put a forkful of pancakes into his mouth. He and Cristina decided that instead of going down to the hotel dining room they would order the food to their room and have breakfast in bed. It was something they liked to do at home, but the mess it caused in the bed was always annoying. Thankfully since they were in a hotel they didn't really have to care about that.

"Well after the ones I made you for your birthday every pancakes taste like heaven." Cristina laughed, still feeling a bit embarrassed about the disastrous breakfast she prepared for Jackson on his birthday.

"I just remembered something. I totally forgot to give you your present yesterday," Jackson exclaimed all of sudden and jumped out of the bed, rushing to his suitcase that he left next to the door the night before. If Cristina didn't mention his birthday he would totally have forgotten about the present he brought for her.

"My present?" Cristina raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Yeah, your birthday present. Or did you think I wasn't gonna give you anything?" Jackson asked with laugh as he was looking through his suitcase, trying to remember where he put it.

"I thought that you coming here was present enough," she said, knowing it sounded kinda cheesy. But it was true. Nothing that could Jackson send her would be better than him actually coming to Europe and staying there with her for the rest of the trip.

"Well it wasn't. Not to me. Because I also got you something else," he said with a small smile as he finally found a small box in his suitcase and got back to the bed, handing it to Cristina. "I know you're not too into jewelry, but once I saw this I thought it was the perfect gift for you. So I hope you like it."

Cristina gave him a once over as he handed her the box, wondering what was inside of it, hoping she wouldn't be disappointed. Not that she wouldn't believe Jackson's skills in picking something for her. But to Cristina getting a present you don't like from someone you love was one of the most awkward situations you could get into. So she preferred either not getting any gifts or picking them herself. "That's so beautiful," she shrieked once she opened the box and saw a small camera shaped locket inside it. Jackson was right that Cristina wasn't really a jewelry type, but it was mostly because she had never found something that she would feel comfortable wearing. Something that would suit her perfectly. But this, this seemed like the perfect fit for her and the worries about getting a wrong gift quickly disappeared.

A bright smile spread across Jackson's face when he saw that Cristina liked the present. He had been thinking about what to get her for a several weeks and he had no idea what to go for, but once he saw the locket in a window display of a jewelry store he knew it was the perfect gift for her. And it seemed like he was right. "It's a locket. Open it."

Cristina gave him a questioning look, but she couldn't wait to see what Jackson put inside it. She quickly opened it and the smile on her face widened even more. On the inside there was a photo of her and Jackson that Meredith took months ago. Cristina completely forgot that the photo even existed. "This is perfect, Jackson. I really love it," she said and gave him a long kiss, before putting the locket in his hand and turning around so he could help her put it on.

"It looks even more beautiful on you than I expected," Jackson said once Cristina turned back to him. He was relieved that she liked his gift. At first he was planning to mail it to her, but once he found out he would be able to come to Europe the day of her birthday, he decided to give it to her in person to be able to see her reaction. "Now eat up, we have a lot of stuff to do today."

"Oh, do we?" Cristina asked, unaware of Jackson's plans for the day.

"Yeah. Or did you think I could come to Berlin and not visit places the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall or the Charlottenburg Palace? Oh, and the Museum Island! How could I call myself an artist and not visit some of the museums here?"

"Are you gonna be like this all the time?" Cristina asked with laugh, when she saw how excited Jackson looked about the idea of sightseeing.

"Yes." Jackson nodded. "I already have a list of all the places I want to visit. But don't worry you're gonna love it."


End file.
